Festival Board Expecting Deficit Dismal 1995 Season Puts Organizers $90,000 In Red

Organizers of the troubled Festival at Sandpoint didn’t sugarcoat their message to a crowd of about 80 people Monday night.

“We need help,” said board member Dick Villelli.

“We as a board are taking responsibility for everything that has transpired. But we are not here to dwell on the past or the negatives. We are here to move forward, and our plan for 1996 is to succeed. Period.”

Festival organizers called the meeting at Sandpoint High School to address community concerns about the fate of the festival, which was plagued with problems this year.

Organizers are expecting a $90,000 deficit from a dismal summer concert season.

Plans to move some concerts to Kootenai County next year caused a rift among festival supporters.

Last week the entire paid festival staff abruptly quit, including executive director Connie Berghan. No replacements have been named yet.

And the festival still needs to find a permanent home since it will be ousted from Memorial Field in two years.

Board members admitted they weren’t even sure, until Sunday night, there would be a festival at all. Or whether artistic director and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gunther Schuller would stay with the organization.

“We have Gunther on board as of 6:15 p.m.,” Villelli said. “We have the Schweitzer Institute of Music, and we will find a permanent site someday. But most of all we have all you people sitting here. We will make lemonade out of this yet,” he said.

The board managed to give the group the bad news, endure some criticism and turn the meeting into a festival pep rally and plea for support, mostly financial.

“We owe a lot of people money. Some for our artistic director but mostly to local merchants,” said festival Vice President Dave Slaughter.

The festival’s finances are just now being audited by a Spokane firm. But Slaughter said it appears the festival owes about $90,000.

“We intend to make good on that and we will,” he said.

All of that debt can be paid with a grant the festival is guaranteed if it can come up with matching funds, board members said.

They urged people to donate and even co-sign loans to get the organization back on its feet.

The board also plans to conduct a professional search for a new executive director.

“We want a proper and thorough search, but first we have to be financially sound in order to hire a director,” said festival President Sally Lindemann.

In the meantime an interim director will be named to get the festival up and running again.

After being lambasted by critics several weeks ago, the board also agreed to make other changes.

The number of summer concerts will be cut in half next year, from 15 shows to about eight.

The board of directors will be expanded from 15 to at least 20 members to get a broader representation of public opinion.

Summarizing the festival’s 14-year history in Sandpoint, board member Skip Pucci noted some of the great performances and troubles the organization has waded through.

“We had growing pains and we are still having growing pains,” Pucci said.

“But the festival would have never existed without a community effort and that is what it’s going to take now, a team effort. No one person can run this thing, that’s all there is to it.”

, DataTimes