Fireworks will fly again at Archbold Carp Festival
7/17/2003ARCHBOLD - Fireworks will cap the Archbold Carp Festival on Saturday night for the first time since 2000.
The 20-minute show is to commemorate the Ohio Bicentennial, village parks and recreation director Jennifer Kidder said.
The last such show was to mark the turn of the century.
New this year at the festival are five mechanical amusements and rides for children in the Archbold Middle School parking lot and an obstacle course and amusements in Memorial Park before the fireworks.
About 5,000 people over two days are expected to attend the festival that has grown from of the Lions Club's Jonah Fish Fry, said Fred Witte, co-executive director of the Archbold Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Lions sell all-you-can-eat whiting fish dinners with coleslaw, potato salad, roll, pie, and drink for $7, which, along with an auction and raffle at the festival, is their main fund-raiser of the year.
This year the club has pledged half of its auction profits to Visiting Nurses and Hospice of Williams and Fulton counties building fund for an adult day-care facility.
The club hopes to raise $3,000 to $4,000 in the bidding for hundreds of donated items, many of which are gift certificates from Archbold area businesses.
The 40-member club's 700 fish dinners are expected to yield a $1,000 profit and its raffle is expected to produce about $500 for the Lions to use for eyeglasses and community projects. The Lions events are the main charity fund-raisers of the festival.
The fireworks show, which is to cost $14,000, is to be funded with $5,000 from income-tax receipts from the village parks and recreation department's and $9,000 in donations.