From: The Kingston 4^th of July Committee

To: Residents of Greater Kingston and North Kitsap

Greetings,

We hope you are all doing well and are safe with your families. To say that the past few months have been challenging would be an understatement of epic proportions.

Normally at this time of year the 4^th of July Committee is busy planning for our annual celebration here in Kingston. This year, as you might imagine, we have had to incorporate many new challenges into our planning process. For this reason, we want to share with you some of the things we have been working on and to get your feedback on our direction forward.

There are many events that occur on the 4^th of July in Kingston with the main focus on events like Tiny Town at the Village Green, The Parade down Highway 104 and Music and Fireworks at Mike Wallace Park in the Port of Kingston Marina. All of these events incur some cost to prepare and put on. The money to pay for these events comes through donations from local businesses and individuals. The cost of our professional fireworks show is our largest expense at about $25,000. Music in the park costs $8,000. Tiny Town cost $6,000 and the Parade cost $500.

Because of the financial difficulties we all are facing we expect great difficulties in raising the funds we would need to put on our regular 4^th of July Celebration. But it’s not all about money. There is the greater concern of public safety. Kingston is a very diverse community of people from many walks of life. Large gatherings present obstacles in ensuring no one in our community is exposed to the virus especially our at-risk, elderly residents and visitors.

Today, we are announcing the cancellation of this year’s Tiny Town, the Music in the Park and the Fireworks show due to:

• The uncertainty of what the “Stay Home - Stay Safe requirements will be on July 4th.
• The unlikely ability to raise the necessary funds because of the additional economic burden it places on our local businesses and individuals at this time.
• The need to make financial commitments for these events in April.
• The health risks to our volunteers, many of whom are senior citizens in the higher risk category.

The decision on our legacy 4th of July parade will be made in mid-June and will be dependent upon the “Stay Home - Stay Safe” requirements at that time and the input from the attached survey.

We would like to hear your thoughts and get your feedback so if you have a moment please answer our short survey which can be accessed below.

Sincerely,

The Kingston 4^th of July Celebration Planning Committee