Kirkland’s 4th of July fireworks need community boost to continue

Published 4:12 pm Wednesday, June 5, 2013

In 1999 every city, every county, every state, every country around the world was planning their celebrations to welcome the new century.

Kirkland was no different.

Together with my husband, Kirkland Mayor at the time, and several other community leaders, I sat down to create Kirkland’s event. We decided this was the right time to revive Kirkland’s 4th of July celebration that had been discontinued many years earlier.

Many neighborhoods had some kind of parade or picnic of their own but there was nothing citywide. We wanted an event that would connect neighborhoods, businesses, churches, schools – the entire city really – in a way that made our community shine and reminded us all how lucky we were to call Kirkland home.

We started with a town hall meeting. The turnout was great, confirming the eagerness of Kirklanders to have a party!

I made everyone close their eyes and “picture” a whole day of celebrations from decorating wagons and bikes for the kiddies’ parade, to watching magnificent horses, clowns and bands in the big parade, to enjoying a community picnic in the park, then home for a nap, and finally, the return to Marina Park and the “oo’s” and “ahh’s” that would accompany an amazing fireworks display in our own front yard.

It worked.

Folks got excited, then they got busy. For the next six months a small team of volunteers put together our first Celebrate Kirkland! 4th of July.  When the day was over we were exhausted but realized we had started something important.

To stimulate creativity and excitement around the parade, my store, The Grape Choice, decided to create two 8-by-12 foot American flags made entirely of wine corks. I let my mailing list know we needed corks and so did the Seattle Times and the Reporter.

Over the next few weeks we were flooded with corks from all over the Eastside and Seattle. We used more than 20,000 in the creation of the flags and had enough left over to make a mini Heritage Hall float in 2001.

Houghton built their float, which would evolve over the years from a church to a school to a barge. We haven’t seen it for a few years. I think it might have landed as someone’s garden shed.

What is it that is so magical about the 4th of July? It is our nation’s birthday, the annual celebration of our independence, and a reminder that comes at a cost, which is why we work so hard every year to honor the many veterans who grace our parade with their attendance.

It’s also a time to celebrate our country’s democracy. So, too many politicians? Admittedly, I may be a bit biased, but in fact, it’s part of what we are celebrating.

It is the end of the school year and the beginning of summer and our children – thousands of them – gather to celebrate with their athletic teams, scout troops, church and school groups, or with their neighborhoods. It is a day like no other in Kirkland.

Over the course of 14 years the event hasn’t changed much. It certainly has grown but we have tried not to change the flavor. It is still organized by a small committee of volunteers who use the Kirkland Downtown Association as a fiscal agent.

This allows donations to the event to be tax deductible.  Funding for the day-long event is always a challenge and this year is no different. Those sponsors that give year after year do so not out of a desire to get their name on posters but from deep commitment to their community.

Organizations like Lee Johnson Auto Family, our parade sponsor, and other long-term supporters like Waste Management, Overlake Oil, The Grape Choice, Honda of Kirkland, Ford and Hundai of Kirkland,  Astronics, and Wave Broadband have been our lifeline.

Unfortunately, we need more than life support to pull off our event this year. We remain $25,000 short of our overall goal of $67,000, which could mean canceling the fireworks.

Donations are still coming in and we have every hope of another successful year but somehow it seems that if I don’t have a panic attack it just won’t happen.

WILL YOU HELP?

We need 25 organizations to step up to donate $1,000 apiece or 250 families to donate $100 apiece or 500 Kirklanders (there are 80,000 of us!) to find $50 apiece.

Please go to www.celebratekirkland.org to donate or send a check to: Celebrate Kirkland/KDA, 328 Parkplace Center, Kirkland WA 98033 or deliver a donation to: The Grape Choice, the Greater Kirkland Chamber of Commerce, Hallmark Realty or Banner Bank in downtown Kirkland.

Kirkland, we can make this happen if we are willing to step up and do it. Thank You!

Kirkland Councilwoman Penny Sweet is the president of Celebrate Kirkland!