I hope everyone had a great time at this year’s annual Fiddle Festival! Congratulations! to the National Old Time Fiddle Contest committee members and volunteers. I understand that the number of contestants at the contest itself was higher than last year. Carl Smith, your Police Chief, says that from his perspective the Festival was the smoothest it had been in years. So, good job everyone!!!
Talking about celebrations, Bill Taylor and Pete Ney have been busy. Bill and Pete are City employees who have a little extra-curricular activity going on. You see, they take it on themselves to provide fireworks for the Fourth of July and Christmas Parade celebrations. They travel on their own to take training, fundraise, order the fireworks months in advance, spend all day setting up the display, and then WOW! everyone with the event! We should all be grateful to these two for their efforts to bring enjoyment to us all!
The City provides some funding for these events, but about half of the funds come through the fundraising efforts of these two individuals and whoever else they can grab to help them.
Right now, the fireworks fund is running a bit shy of the funds to provide as great of a display for both events as what has been used to in the past. Bill and Pete have placed collection jars in businesses around town and in City Hall that will go directly to the fireworks purchase. If you see these jars, please take the time to donate what you can so we can continue to have great Fourth of July and Christmas celebrations. These displays are a part of what makes Weiser a great place to live, work, and play!
Since it is beginning to really get warm outside, Carl Smith would like to remind all of you pet owners against leaving your animals in vehicles unattended. Even if you are just stepping into the store for just a moment, the temperature inside a vehicle can soar rapidly. Leaving windows cracked or rolled down does not reduce the risk significantly. You would not think of leaving a child unattended in a car. So please have the same consideration for your pets.
On another matter, a year or so ago, the Weiser Wastewater Department had to devise a plan to conform to regulations for clean water discharged into the Snake River. The City adopted the Wastewater Department’s plan in an ordinance. Part of the plan is to make regular inspections of grease traps used by restaurants and fast-food services. The first phase of these inspections was to inspect and educate those in violation of the City’s ordinance. The second phase involves enforcing the ordinance. These inspections and educational services have been taking place. Lonnie Chambers, the Wastewater Plant manager, would like those of you who are responsible for grease traps to know that the education period for grease trap violations has expired. In the future violations will involve penalties on a per day basis. So, if you use a grease trap in your business, I urge you to make sure that you are complying at all times. This will not only help your business, but also allow the water going back into our great State’s waterways to be even cleaner.
(It might surprise you that the water going back into the river after the Wastewater plant processes it is much cleaner than the water that the Water Department initially pulls from the river for your needs.)
One last thing related to the Fiddle Festival involves yard sales. If you had a yard sale and advertised with signs around town, I hope you had a remarkably successful sales event. Also, please retrieve your signs.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you have a great time celebrating the 198th anniversary of the United States next week. Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play!
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