News Details (Posted: July 11, 2006):

"Expect Boat Races to Return Next Year"

Full Description:

"Politicians, vendors, boat racers and musicians all came together this week for Kingston's July 4th blowout.

And while there's no way to know for sure just how many people braved the heat to attend the lakefront festival, parks director April Johnson said the event was the biggest and best, in years.

"We had such good people to work with and everything went beautifully," she said.

"When I looked out, all I saw was people," she said describing the crowd waiting for the fireworks Tuesday night. "City Park was all heads."

Johnson also said it appeared that fundraisers had managed to accumulate enough donations to cover the event's cost - even the return of boat drag racing tot he festival.

"I'm 99 percent sure we paid for everything," she said.

Johnson said almost $10,000 worth of seed money was left over from last year's fireworks in place to help make sure the city had enough funds to pay for the boat racing fee.

Johnson said the final numbers on donations are not in, but fundraisers appear to have raised enough this year to not only cover the estimated $38,000 pricetag for the festival, but to add to the funding buffer for next year's event.

Johnson credited the willingness of the public to make donations at the gate for the boat race events.

Asking $2 per person in donations at the entrances to the main festival area, Johnson said volunteers were able to raise between $4,500 - $5,000 to help with event costs.

The boat races, brought back after a 10-year absence, drew enough spectators to boost the festival from a successful one-day event to a successful three-day event.

Just as important, Johnson said, the boat racers and the Outboard Drag Boat Association that sanctions the races enjoyed the event enough that they expressed the desire to return again.

Johnson said she hopes that the success of this year's event may serve as a springboard to help make next year's even better.

A possible change, however, may be the elimination of the first-day meet-and-greet event between the public and the racers.

While the event was deemed successful, it was, as anticipated, a much smaller draw than the races themselves, Johnson said. It also took a good bit of time to set up.

Tthe boat racers told Johnson none of the other places that host races bother with the meet-and-greet.

Whether the schedule changes or not, Johnson said she's excited about the prospects and can't wait to get started on next year's event."(www.roanecounty.com)