Newburyport City Notebook
Katie Farrell
July 13, 2009 03:53 am Community support for the Yankee Homecoming fireworks has brought about some help toward funding the show this year, but organizers will meet this week to determine if the show will truly go on. The Yankee Homecoming committee already has plans to scale back the show to $15,000, rather than the usual cost of $25,000, but donations are so far down, the show may be canceled altogether this year, organizer Jason LaCroix said last week. LaCroix said Friday the committee has about $9,000 in donations for the fireworks so far. Since his announcement, an anonymous donor came forward and offered to match 10 percent of whatever funding is raised. Mark Audette, manager of Ring's Island Marina in Salisbury, also told LaCroix he will donate. LaCroix said last week if people give a donation to Yankee Homecoming, specifically earmarked for the fireworks, they can request that it be refunded if the show is canceled. ¢¢¢ IC-Haiti is seeking donations for their community-wide yard sale on Aug. 1. The sale will raise proceeds to benefit IC-Haiti, a nonprofit group of community members affiliated with Immaculate Conception Parish and St. Boniface Haiti Foundation. Since forming last year, IC-Haiti has collected about $40,000 in donations and lent aid to the village of Fond des Blanc. The group will accept yard sale donations at the IC school gymnasium on Saturday, July 18 and Saturday, July 25, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The yard sale is Aug. 1 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. ¢¢¢ To clarify an article that ran in Friday's edition, "Knitting together the shopping scene," page 1, UnCommon Threads on Inn Street is a needlework shop. The store offers a range of supplies and products relating to needlework, cross-stitch and crochet. ¢¢¢ Local historian and author Nancy Weare will give a lecture at the Parker River Wildlife Refuge Thursday, July 23 on "Plum Island, The Way it Was." The lecture will run from 7 to 8 p.m. and is free. No registration is necessary. Coffee and pastries will be available for sale with proceeds benefiting the Friends of Parker River, a nonprofit organization that supports the refuge. This lecture will be held in the Visitor Center Auditorium, 6 Plum Island Turnpike. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. ¢¢¢ The Sewer Commission will receive its next update Aug. 3 on the progress of the plans for the repairs to the wastewater treatment plant. Public Services Director Brendan O'Regan said the meeting will begin at 5 p.m. in the DPS building on Perry Way. The meetings are open to the public, but O'Regan said a full public meeting on the project will happen in September. The commission is currently choosing which of two models to choose for the aeration system, O'Regan said, and has recommended going with a mechanical aeration system. It also has applied for a $3 million grant from DEP in an attempt to further reduce the costs to ratepayers, O'Regan said. A pre-qualification process for contractors and subcontractors is also underway, O'Regan said. ¢¢¢ The following meetings have been scheduled and are open to the public: Monday School Committee, 6:30 p.m., Newburyport High School, room 118 Moseley Woods Committee, 6:30 p.m., Institution for Savings conference room City Council, 7:30 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers Tuesday Board of Appeals, 7 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers Wednesday Planning Board, 7 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers Thursday Parks Commission, 7 p.m., City Hall auditorium Historical Commission, 7:30 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers ¢¢¢ Katie Farrell covers Newburyport for The Daily News. She can be reached at 978-462-6666, ext. 3232, or by e-mail at kfarrell@newburyportnews.com.
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