No Summerfest this year

Raytown SummerFest has taken on several changes the past few years and with those changes, the Raytown Chamber felt 2013 was going to be a banner year. For various reasons, the event did not evolve the way we thought and when Mother Nature came in on Saturday, the event was a wash.

Immediately following the event, Chamber Staff and the Board of Directors reviewed the income and expenses, the year-long commitment to the organization of the event, the number of volunteers needed, the community’s participation and, of course, the amount of space needed for the event itself. Chamber Staff took the time to visit with some of the larger sponsors, the volunteers who worked the entire weekend and some of the vendors who had been a part of the event for several years. The Board of Directors took all of the recommendations into consideration and also discussed the option of continuing the event since it was making budget but without the support of the community, it would not be considered a true success. So after a long and hard process, it was decided to take a year off from planning festivals. So, a festival sponsored by the Raytown Chamber is not planned for 2014.

Over the next year, the Chamber will meet with various organizations to assess what amount of time will be put towards community events whether the Chamber is the one in charge or partnering with another group or helping other events within the community succeed. The Raytown Chamber will continue to be an advocate for the businesses in this community and to help promote the City of Raytown.

* The Chamber released this a while back, but I missed it due to covering the election.