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5a. 25th Anniversary 4th of July Celebration Evaluation CITY OF CHANHASSEN 7700 Market Boulevard PO Box 147 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Administration Phone: 952.227.1100 Fax: 952.227.1110 Building Inspections Phone: 952.227.1180 Fax: 952.227.1190 Engineering Phone 952.227.1160 Fax: 952.227.1170 Finance Phone: 952.227.1140 Fax: 952.227.1110 Park & Recreation Phone: 952.227.1120 Fax: 952.227.1110 Recreation Center 2310 Coulter Boulevard Phone: 952.227.1400 Fax: 952.227.1404 Planning & Natural Resources Phone: 952.227.1130 Fax: 952.227.1110 Public Works 1591 Park Road Phone: 952.227.1300 Fax: 952.227.1310 Senior Center Phone: 952.227.1125 Fax 952.227.1110 Web Site WNW.ci .chanhassen.mn .us S-Ov MEMORANDUM TO: Jerry Ruegemer, Recreation Superintendent John Stutzman, Recreation Supervisor) 0 FROM: DATE: July 16, 2008 SUBJ: 25th Anniversary 4th of July Celebration Evaluation OVERALL SUMMARY The two-day event grew since last year. In honor of the 25th anniversary, more activities, vendors, and seating were added to this year's celebration, combined with lots of old favorites. Expenses and revenues both increased from the previous year due to an increased volume of celebration participants. Overall, staff believes that this year's attendance for all aspects of the celebration was considerably up from past years. Below you will find a breakdown summary of all events that took place during the two-day celebration. Recommendations are also included with the individual summaries. An expense/revenue sheet for the celebration is attached. JULY 3rd Kiddie Parade Approximately 300 kids participated in this year's Kiddie Parade. Mitch Johnson, the playground staff, and Lake Ann concession staff coordinated the logistics of the parade. They did a great job making sure the parade ran smoothly. The Fire Department and the Carver County Sheriffs Department were of great assistance in helping to ensure a safe route for all involved. Juice boxes and Toy World Coupons were handed out to all parade participants. Numbers were up for this event from last year and I would recommend continuing to run this event in the future. Business Fair The Chanhassen Chamber of Commerce Business Fair had 40 participants this year. The Chamber had a separate tent again this year for the Business Fair. I would recommend they do the same for next year and possibly look at getting a bigger tent since the event is growing. I recommend Chamber cover the extra costs for a bigger tent since it is not necessary for our own needs. I believe this is a great part of the celebration and should definitely be continued in the future. The City of Chanhassen · A growing community with clean lakes, quality schools, a charming downtown, thriving businesses, winding trails, and beautiful parks. A great place to live, work, and play. J Jerry Ruegemer July 16, 2008 Page 2 Kaptain Kirby Train Rides This has been a good attraction for young kids and families. The kids do enjoy this activity; however, the addition of the carnival resulted in a loss of its popularity. Kaptain Kirby also operates one of the city-sponsored food booths and with the move toward all local vendors with the Taste of Chanhassen, I do not recommend having Kaptain Kirby return next year. This will create more space for local food vendors and we will have additional carnival rides replace the loss of the train rides. Face Painting/Caricatures/Air Brush Tattoos These are popular activities and remain successful at our celebration. The City retained 20% of all sales of these activities. Profits were slightly up from last year's figures as they were at the celebration for both days. I would recommend inviting them to both days again next year. Also, I will continue to try to find the best available location for this vendor. With the current layout of the ever-growing celebration, it is becoming harder to find the perfect location. This attraction consists of very little setup and maintenance for the City. All About Girls Up-Dos and Makeovers (Hair and Make-up) These are popular activities and remain successful at our celebration. The City retained 20% of all sales with these activities. Profits were slightly up from last year's figures as they were at the celebration for both days. I would recommend inviting them to both days again next year. Also, I will continue to try to find the best available location for this vendor. With the current layout of the ever-growing celebration it is becoming harder to find the perfect location. This attraction consists of very little setup and maintenance for the City. Water Wars Water Wars was a nice addition to the celebration again this year. We had one Water Wars apparatus this year and, with the addition of the carnival rides, I feel this is the correct number of units. The City took in 20% of their sales. I would recommend that we invite them back next year. This attraction consists of very little setup and maintenance for the City. Carnival Games The carnival games were a hit again. The playground staff, along with the Lake Ann concession staff, operated the games. They did a wonderful job and were, as always, an asset to our celebration. Even with the addition of the carnival which also brings games, the profits were similar to last year. I would attribute this to the playground leaders and the great rapport they have with the kids. I would recommend keeping this as part of the celebration. ___J Jerry Ruegemer July 16, 2008 Page 3 Speedway Racing This attraction was once again very popular. This is a great family event and involves very little setup. The City took in 20% of their total sales. I would invite them back next year. They were in the same location as last year, which is east of the Chamber tent. This seems to be a good location for them, as it allows them good visibility. Pony Rides/Corral This seemed to be a very popular attraction. If possible, it would be worth looking into the possibility of adding a second pony ring to reduce the lines. If this were done, I suggest we seek sponsors to help offset costs. I would recommend having them back next year. This attraction requires very little set-up and maintenance from the city. Summer Skateboard Series This event was a great addition to the celebration. 3rd Lair Skate Park came to Chanhassen Skate Park and put on the entire competition as part of a summer long series. They reported their second highest attendance total for this summer series at our event. I would invite them back next year. Basketball Free-Throw Shooting Contest This event has declined in popularity over the past few years. I felt it was important to keep it for this year's anniversary celebration; however, since we gave away trophies and basketballs to the winners in five different age categories, we do have expenses for an event declining in popularity. I would not recommend running this event next year. Chalk It Up Contest This event was successful as well this year. It was a lot of fun to see the creativity that people use in drawing their designs. The contest had two categories-most creative and most difficult-for two age groups (12 and under and 13 and up). The addition of the two age groups seems to work well. I would recommend continuing this into the future. This was judged by Katie Hoen and playground staff. I would recommend running this event again next year. The Medicine Show This is an entertaining group to have intermingled with the business fair crowd before the Street Dance. I would invite them back next year, but look to rework the hours of their performance to complement the additional music on the main stage. Perhaps 3:30 - 6 pm. Tae Kwon Do Demo Jeff Engel and his staff provided our audience with an entertaining demonstration. His students seemed to enjoy performing for our event and it is also a great opportunity for the City to promote our Tae Kwon Do program at the Rec Center. Jeff has mentioned putting together a Jerry Ruegemer July 16, 2008 Page 4 demo team, and if this is the case, it would be great to include them in the future to help keep the group from getting too large as event space is becoming limited. I would invite them back again next year. This attraction consists of very little set-up and maintenance for the city. Baby Changing Station A non-profit organization offered a privacy area for parents to change or feed their infant children and toddlers. There was no cost incurred by the city for this added feature. Service was provided at City Center Park for both days of the celebration. I would highly recommend having them back again next year as they provide a well-appreciated service. Food and Beer Garden Overall the food vendors had a very successful night. I would suggest that we keep a similar number of food vendors for next year. This year the City only brought in two food vendors as the Rotary expanded the Taste of Chanhassen. This added to the "community feel" of the event. City-sponsored vendors were added to the "horseshoe" and the staging area was the west city hall parking lot. Both of these vendors appeared to do well; however, a few issues arose with one and I would not invite them back next year. The Taste of Chanhassen was larger than ever, even allowing some vendors to have multiple tents. This worked well and accommodated the larger crowds. The food vendors were set in a horseshoe shape again, just north of the trail past the main tent. Pedestrian traffic was directed through the middle of the horseshoe into the carnival and games area allowing for maximum exposure for the Taste of Chanhassen food vendors. This also provided a nice transition into the carnival areas. The beer garden had an LD. check this year and handed out wrist bands to those of age. This year, patrons were more aware that there would be active LD. checks and those doing it were moved further out in line to allow for more exposure. I recommend this process again for next year. More room was also added around the beer tent, and I would recommend doing the same again next year. Carnival The carnival rides and games seemed to be a huge hit and a great addition to the celebration. I would highly recommend bringing a carnival back. Some things to consider for next year are continuing to give very specific guidelines to the company that brings in the carnival, such as arrival time, set-up time, tear-down time, where to dispose of trash, and communication between carnival management and those staff implementing the event. I would also make sure they have a minimum of2-3 ticket booths and make them as visible as possible. The rides were open both days, and they did better than last year on the 4th. I would recommend inviting them back next year. Jerry Ruegemer July 16, 2008 Page 5 ChanJam Champions: "Karmel" Performance Karmel gave a wonderful performance! The idea of having a local band open for a local celebration is great. I would recommend continuing t6 invite the ChanJam champions to play again in the future. Street Dance What a great performance yet again! I think that everybody at the celebration enjoyed Casablanca Orchestra's (CBO) performance. Once again we rented the stage for the band, which really seems to work well. With the ChanJam band on stage prior to CBO, we had an additional four-foot second at the front of the stage. I would definitely recommend renting the stage again next year and booking CBO. This year Mayor Tom Furlong also presented CBO with a key to the city for their 11 years of great service to the celebration. This year we also had MJM Productions bring in the Immortal Dancers to perform during one of CBO's break. This was a nice addition for the anniversary celebration; however, I do not believe it is necessary to continue in the future. We added additional tables and chairs this year, as well as continuing to rent a larger tent. I feel all of the additions were very well-utilized and needed because the tent was full for a majority of the show. Additional porta-potties were added this year as well. I recommend keeping the same amount; however, looking to distribute them through the park more strategically. JULY 4TH Adult Fishing Contest There were a total of 50 participants registered in this year's contest. Everyone that participated had a good time. The entry fee for the contest was $20. Every participant that registered also won a door prize. I would recommend offering this event again next year, as it is a nice activity to offer our adult population. I recommend continuing this event in the future, but to expand the time of the contest to 7 - 10 a.m. Kid's Fishing Contest A total of75 kids participated in this year's fishing festival. All kids received a grab bag with fishing items. We also gave away trophies and other prizes to the winners of the largest fish, longest fish and smallest fish in two age categories. The contest was run by Mitch Johnson, Charlie Eiler and our playground staff. This event consists of very little set-up and maintenance for the city and I recommend it again for next year. Sand Sculpture Contest . The contest was run and judged by Katie Hoen and the playground staff. With the amount of time and energy people put into their sculptures, we should look at making multiple age groups. This is fun activity during the celebration and I would include it again in next year's celebration. _J Jerry Ruegemer July 16, 2008 Page 6 Treasure Hunt This is a fun and simple event and should be included in next year's celebration. The clues were organized by John Stutzman and Mina Weber. Mina was a great asset in the planning and organization of this event. 1 would recommend disguising the medallion within its hiding place to make this activity slightly more difficult to find allowing for more participation in this popular activity. Parade The parade had a huge crowd again this year. The Chanhassen Rotary took the lead again, but had strong support and help from the City of Chanhassen. The parade consisted of approximately eighty entries. The parade continues to grow with viewing patrons who flood the downtown area. The Rotary added volunteer parade marshals this year that patrolled the crowds and kept the pace of the parade entries. This worked very well and I would recommend continuing this in the future. This year we added a garbage truck followed by a truck picking up the blue barrels. This worked extremely well as it encouraged people to pick up trash around them and made clean-up a lot easier than in the past. However, this could be more beneficial if we provide the truck with signage to allow participants to understand its purpose. We need to maintain emergency routes and barricade off roads in a more successful manner to help with our increasing numbers. We also advertised that no tents or canopies may be installed on the parade route for fear of driving stakes into buried lines. This worked very well this year and I would recommend continuing this practice. Taste of Chanhassen and Car Show The Chanhassen Rotary also took the lead again, with strong support and help from the City of Chanhassen. Streets, roads, and parking lots were blocked off for these two events ahead of time to maintain a safe participant area. Both of these events were moved to the north side of City Hall this year to keep all aspects of the celebration together for both days. I would recommend keeping the layout of these events the same for next year. Live Music: ChanJam Runners-up Performance The two bands invited to play during this time slot were Delirium from Chaska High School and The Wandering Bartletts from Minnetonka High School. Both did a nice job in their performance. This idea of having a local band open up the local celebration is great. I would look to see if the bands are fitting of the crowd that will be in attendance. While I feel The Wandering Bartletts were perfect, I believe Delirium might have been a little to "heavy" for the crowd in attendance. I would recommend continuing to have music during this time, but perhaps being a bit more selective. Glow-Sticks and Bracelets An outside vendor was brought in to sell glow-sticks and bracelets. We accepted bids from two vendors and gave the contract to Beverly Strand since she gave a higher bid. I recommend having the same product sold next year and continue having the vendors bid for the contract. Jerry Ruegemer July 16, 2008 Page 7 Fireworks This year's fireworks show was again contracted through Melrose Pyrotechnics. I thought they put on an excellent display. The staff at Melrose continues to do a great job coordinating all the logistics of the display. I look forward to working with them again next year as they have a two years remain on our current contract. SUGGESTIONS FOR 2009 1. Look at adding new and exciting activities and expand upon the current ones to reduce wait times and lines. 2. Continue blocking off Audubon Road after the fireworks are complete. This will allow us to keep traffic moving down to Galpin Boulevard. 3. Be sure to spray for mosquitoes again next year at both City Center Park and Lake Ann. We received several positive comments from festival attendees. Coordinating and spraying with Metropolitan Mosquito Control seemed to be well worth our efforts. 4. Continue to have Taste of Chanhassen, live music, and other events up in City Center Park rather than moving them down to the plaza on the 4th. 5. Look at getting other private organizations involved in the overall celebration. 6. Mark the physical layout of City Center Park and vendor locations prior to arrival of any vendors. This will help to show the exact location of the carnival. 7. Look to add 2-3 more carnival rides to help keep lines down throughout the evening. In addition, discuss expanding the hours for unlimited ride wristbands to accommodate younger families who attend the celebration earlier in the day. 8. Extend times for adult fishing contest to 7 - 10 a.m. to allow more time for the participants during this popular event. 9. Add a first aid/customer service tent to the event. Talk to Ridgeview to see if they are able to staff this voluntarily. 10. Be sure to have all lights from tennis courts and hockey rinks on at dark to provide more light to the park. g: \pa rk\4 th \2008\eva I uat i on. doc 2008 4TH OF JULY REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE REPORT REVENUE Food Vendors Adult Fishing Prize Board T-Shirt Sales Maund Entertainment Night Light Novelties Carnival Rides and Games Speedway Racing Kids Games 25th Anniversary Mini Carnival Water Wars All about Girls $ 450.00 $ 1,000.00 $ 1,385.00 $ 2,400.00 $ 531.40 $ 405.00 $ 3,500.00 $ 230.00 $ 804.18 $ 418.17 $ 109.00 $ 140.00 Total $ (11,372.75) EXPENDITURES 101-1613-4130 Target Travel Advisors International Cabin Fever Sporting Goods Toll Oriental Trading Domino's Ace Hardware Executive Ocean Party America Cub Foods $ 932.74 $ 150.00 $ 678.94 $ 88.20 $ 638.28 $ 155.00 $ 90.92 $ 164.39 $ 87.12 $ 458.17 Total $ 3,443.76 101-1613-4300 Melrose Pyrotechnics MJM Productions/Casablanca Orchestra Promotional Sales (T-shirts) Candyland Pony Service Medicine Show Music 3rd Lair Skate Park Captain Kirby Train Rides Partners in Entertainment USA Inflatables $30,000.00 $ 6,925.00 $ 3,766.05 $ 1,250.00 $ 750.00 $ 500.00 $ 525.00 $ 600.00 $ 500.00 Total $44,816.05 101-1613-4340 Southwest Suburban Publishing FedEx Kinko's 101-1613-4400 Imperial Porta-Thrones 101-1613-4410 Skyway Event Services Festival Sound & Lighting Waste Management Total Expenditures Total Revenue BALANCE $ 4,206.54 $ 215.66 Total $ 4,422.20 $ 5,045.08 Total $ 5,045.08 $ 8,896.36 $ 1,450.00 $ 1,120.00 Total $ 11,466.36 $(69,193.45) $(11,372.75) -$(58,820.70) __ _____J