Published: June 08, 2008 11:58 pm            

Q&A: Chairman talks field days

TOWN OF TONAWANDA — The Brighton Field Days event, held near the fire hall on Jamaica Road, is one of the sure signs of summer in the town.

The event, started in 1930 as a fundraiser for the fire department, is coming back for the second year since a five-year hiatus due to the cost of liability insurance, said Event Chairman Wally Byers.

The Field Days will run from June 19 to 21 at Station 1, 50 Jamaica Road. Byers discusses what goes into pulling off the event in this week’s Q&A.

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QUESTION: How long have you been the chairman of the field days event?

ANSWER: Oh, I’ve been chair for 25 years or so. It’s been a long time.

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Q: How long has the event been going?

A: The fire company started it in 1930, but during World War II they didn’t have any. Then it started back after the war until a brief period in the 1980s or ’90s.

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Q: What does the chairman do?

A: I have a committee of five people, and everybody has an assignment. One will take care of the bands and entertainment, one takes care of setting up the beverage tent and so on. I take care of a lot of the contracts and permits, making sure the town fathers approve the event and the parade. Then we contact the police for security, the highway department to use their dump trucks for the parade and others. There are a lot of contacts you have to make, right down to the ice cubes. Nobody thinks about things like how many ice cubes you’ll need, but if people have warm beverages on a day like this, that will not go over too well at all.

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Q: What kinds of entertainment can people expect at the event?

A: Each night we’ll have live bands, there will be food and of course our beverage tent. There will be some gambling. Then Hammerhl has amusement park things, rides and games, for the kids. We’ll have some ride specials as well.

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Q: Does the event change every year, or is it more of a traditional line up?

A: We try to keep it pretty much the same. We want to put on a good show for the public, but we also have to make it easy for our members because we still have to respond to fires. Hopefully we won’t have many, but there are always some.

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Q: What are the most popular events?

A: These last few times the live music has been amazing. And the rides of course are great for the kids. But the money is obviously in the beverage tent and gambling.

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Q: How many people usually attend?

A: We’ll see about 2,500 to 3,000 on average. Those are mostly local people around the fire hall, although some don’t come out and complain about the noise. On Thursday we’re running it from 4 p.m. until 11 p.m., Friday we’re running it from 4 p.m. until midnight, and Saturday we’ll start at 1 p.m. before the parade at 2 p.m. and shut it down around midnight. We don’t like to go later than that, because we do respect our neighbors. These three days out of the year we’re taking some time to make some money for the department, but also saying hello to the community we serve. That’s why we’re here.

Contact reporter Daniel Pyeat 693-1000, ext. 158.

        

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