Spokane7
62°
April 21, 2010 in Opinion
Editorial: Selflessness, frugal ways preserve Lilac Festival
The Spokane Lilac Festival has been an uplifting presence in the Inland Northwest for more than 70 years. Participants ritually flocked here from three states, securing the interdependence between Spokane and surrounding communities.
But for much of the past decade the outlook for sustaining the festival’s vitality much longer was generally bleak. Periodic economic woes had touched off a cascade of consequences that took the bloom off the community’s cherished spring celebration.
Was the Lilac Festival truly close to expiring?
It was, according to festival president Arne Weinman, a Spokane contractor and one-time commander of the 92nd Bombardment Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base.
Unlike events such as Hoopfest and Bloomsday, the Lilac Festival can’t effectively collect entry fees. At the same time a ragged economy was making corporate sponsorships harder to come by – and substantially more modest – costs for such expenses as liability insurance were soaring. Other community organizations were feeling the pinch, too, and cutting back their support.
When Spokane Public Schools stopped paying stipends to the teachers who coordinated coronation ceremonies, the festival trimmed its court from 13 down to seven.
A healthy dose of business principles, backed up by a decades-long accumulation of community loyalty, have enabled the festival to turn the corner, says Weinman.
That and an impressive demonstration of selflessness by those who have day-to-day responsibility for the $250,000-a-year operation, all on a payroll of … zero. Nobody draws a salary.
That combination of sleeves-up civic dedication and businesslike operating practices should ease the anxiety of Lilac Festival enthusiasts who are drawn to Spokane each May from throughout the region.
When parade watchers line up along the route and twilight settles on the torchlight spectacle, their minds are not going to be on budget balances. Most of them will be too focused on fresh-faced princesses and festive floats to fret about such things.
And that’s just the way it’s supposed to be.
To respond online, click on Opinion under the Topics menu at www.spokesman.com.
Don’t fudge fish standard 
ChefGus/ John Olsen on April 21 at 5:27 a.m.
Some of old Veterans think the time and effort and money spent on this glorification of the Armed Services might better be spent directly on the Veterans who served housing, feedng, and mental health needs….. Perhaps we can organize and enter a “marching band” of all of the homeless hungry veterans that live in the downtown core and in tents and campgrounds at the margins of the city? i’d bet a dime to a dollar that we’d not be allowed to “MARCH” and counterbalance this rah rah rah with realityi… John Olsen Captain U.S, Army 68-70
misjustice on April 25 at 8:32 a.m.
Perhaps the Lilac festivities have outlived their usefulness. And the archaic “Princess” stuff is more than a little dated….and sexist. Why no Lilac Prince????
I agree with ChefGus on how time and money could be better spent in service to the Veterans and Service members that the parade is intended to honor; also that a “marching band” of homeless Veterans would counter the rah, rah, rah mentality that many have regarding Service members. Many only ‘love’ or ‘support’ the troops when their uniforms are shiny and new; where are these supporters when Veterans return home broken, and need help assimilating back into civilian life????