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Rotary Club not hosting Fourth at the Lake in Lodi
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Fourth at the Lake is a summer event attended by nearly 6,000 people each year, but its future is uncertain following the announcement Friday that the Lodi Tokay Rotary Club will no longer host the event.
"The scope of the event has grown beyond our capacity to host a quality event, as the city deserves," said Gary Greider, president of the club and circulation manager for the News-Sentinel.
Greider said the rotary club only has 50 members, but the event requires a minimum of 100 volunteers.
"Last year, to make up for the deficiency, most of our members were working throughout the day or recruited friends and family to work the event," he said.
The committee in charge of the event also put in many hours and took a number of community complaints regarding the fee to enter the lake as well as the gate now surrounding the park, both of which have been contentious issues for more than 10 years.
"We had so many problems before we fenced off the lake, it was really the only solution to help scale down the event," Greider said.
Additionally, he said the admission fee, which has raised more than $100,000 in the 10 years the rotary club has hosted the event, goes back into the community to improve the lake itself as well as to support such groups as the Lodi Boys and Girls Club.
Greider said he doesn't know where the decision will leave the city, but said his group is willing to help with the transition period while officials figure out a way to continue and organize the event.
Mayor Susan Hitchcock said alternatives have not yet been discussed, but said she hopes the City Council will at least continue to fund the fireworks portion of the event.
However, she said the funds necessary for the larger event may not be available, meaning the day-long event may be severely scaled back or even reduced to only fireworks if no other groups volunteer to take it on.
"It's really too early to know exactly what the outcome will be," she said.
Contact reporter Rebecca Adler at rebeccaa@lodinews.com.
First published: Friday, September 1, 2006

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