They’re Marching On Valleyfest Has Become A Popular Community Event And With It Fund-Raising Efforts For Chairperson Sue Delucchi, It Will Happen Again This Year

Valleyfest is experiencing growing pains.

The Spokane Valley’s annual neighborhood celebration has become so popular that a full-time director was hired, but it’s still so poor that the new director spends part of her time raising money to pay herself.

Since its inception in 1990, Valleyfest has been plagued by that dichotomy - growing public interest matched only minimally by dollars to support it. “The bigger it gets, the more financially tenuous it gets,” said Spokane County Commissioner Steve Hasson.

Last week, Sue Delucchi was hired as the first paid chairperson of Valleyfest. Delucchi has organized the event since 1990. This year, she was unemployed and said she could not commit the time needed to put the festival together.

“Like any organization, you need somebody out there fund raising,” Delucchi said. “Fund raising is an art. You could spend all year just getting underwriting.”

In 1990, its first year, Valleyfest attracted about 4,000 people and ran on a budget of about $7,500. Last year, an estimated 25,000 people attended and the budget was closer to $15,000.

This year, Valleyfest - set for Sept. 16 and 17 at Terrace View Park, 24th and Blake - has a budget of $20,000 and expects to attract about 25,000 people.

More attractions were added each year, which in turn brought larger crowds to the park. The Spokane Symphony began performing in 1992. In 1993, arts and crafts booths were added. Last year, the Spokane Children’s Theatre performed “Annie.”

Additional attractions also added to the festival’s financial woes. Accommodating more people takes more money. And added attractions mean larger insurance fees.

Despite its popularity, the festival doesn’t have a bursting bank account for a variety of reasons. Festival organizers don’t want to charge admission because they want to retain the “open-to-everyone” neighborhood celebration flavor of Valleyfest.

“There are not a lot of family events to go to for free, Delucchi said. “If you’re low income, you can’t afford $10. You can’t even afford $5.”

The festival also doesn’t stash away profits from concessions stands because most proceeds are donated to a scholarship fund for needy children.

Each year, festival organizers are back at ground zero, trying to rally funds.

Spokane County and various businesses, such as Tidyman’s, U.S. Bank and US West, have been consistent sponsors of the festival, but there’s no predetermined money source in place.

Each year, Delucchi approaches the county commissioners asking for money and in-kind donations. Each year, the county’s help varies.

In 1990, when Valleyfest’s budget was about $7,500, the county kicked in about $1,600, or 21 percent. The contribution dropped down to 15 percent the next year and leapt to 32 percent in 1992, according to statistics Delucchi compiled.

Steve Hasson, the only commissioner who’s been in office since Valleyfest began, said he doesn’t want the county to “lock in” to paying the same amount every year because that diminishes the county’s discretionary spending.

For the past two months, the festival has been in danger of not happening at all this year because it lacked a director. Delucchi said she couldn’t do it because she needed to look for work full-time.

“I really was expecting to be totally out of it,” she said. “I just knew I couldn’t do it personally.”

For two months, Valleyfest Foundation board members held on, hoping to recruit a volunteer to organize the event. But time was running out.

On June 26, despite a tight budget and uncertainty about the county’s contribution, the Valleyfest Foundation decided to hire Delucchi at a salary of $6,000 for three months.

Delucchi will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the festival, including soliciting funds. In the festival’s $20,000 budget, about $5,000 remains to be raised, much of which is Delucchi’s salary.

On the morning of June 29, Valleyfest organizers received a pleasant surprise. The county commissioners came through with a larger contribution than anticipated.

“I was real surprised,” said Delucchi.

The county decided to contribute $3,200, still only about 16 percent of Valleyfest’s budget.

In addition to an $1,800 insurance policy and $2,000 worth of goods including a stage, port-a-potties and 20 tables, the commissioners agreed to pay Delucchi a $1,000 stipend for her work.

That way, said county risk manager Claude Cox, the event is tightly linked to the county and can be covered by its $10 million insurance policy.

“We’re making (Delucchi) a volunteer of the county,” Cox said. Event organizers can be paid small stipends, he said, when they put in excessive amounts of time in connection with county property, such as a park.

Despite the delays and uncertainty, Delucchi is certain she can pull the festival together in the two and a half months remaining before Sept. 16.

This year, two musicals, instead of one, will be performed. The children’s theater will put on “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and the ACT Theatre will perform “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

Traditional events, such as the parade, fun run and the childrens’ play area are firmly in place, but it’s unclear how many arts and crafts vendors will attend.

In 1990, Delucchi expected 1,000 people and 4,000 showed up. “The first year should have been a clue,” she said. “We thought we’d have just a nice little community event for five to 10 years. We didn’t do that.”

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