Photo by aconant via morgueFile.com
The Paddock Lake Village Board voted Wednesday to donate money left in the Fourth of July-Christmas Parade account to the Westosha Kiwanis Club for the club’s annual fireworks display over the lake.
The vote was 4-1, with Trustee Kathy Christenson voting against and Trustee Gary Kaddatz absent.
Representatives of the Kiwanis Club asked for consideration of a donation at last week’s committee of the whole meeting.
Club member Joe Riesselmann, a former village board member, said the annual display cost the club about $8,000.
“Westosha Kiwanis would be very grateful if the village of Paddock Lake could see to donate three or four thousand,” Riesselmann said.
The club lost a fundraising source this year when it did not participate in Old Settlers Oktoberfest, from which it was in the past able to make about $5,000, Riesselmann said.
“We want to continue to do it (the fireworks), but we could use some help,” Riesselmann said.
To try to make up for the lost fundraising , the club is planning to host a music and beer tent over the Fourth of July holiday, said club member Steve Bluemel.
Village board members at the committee of the whole were generally in favor of making some kind of donation. A couple expressed the fact that people who see the display often think it is a village project when in fact it is funded principally by the Kiwanis Club.
President Terry Burns suggested donating the fund surplus at the committee meeting, and that was approved Wednesday. He estimated that the surplus this year would be about $1,300.
At the committee meeting, Christenson said she felt the club needed to make their request to the village before the budget is formulated, as the village has asked other organizations seeking donations to do.
