Downtown Christmas event costs Palestine A&P an estimated $22,000

The Palestine Advertising and Promotion Commission this week discussed the success of the city’s Christmas Downtown event. According to commission Chairman Derrick Boileau, the event, while a major success, set the Palestine A&P Commission back about $22,000. "We are going to get in a little trouble with the auditor," said Boileau. "None of us thought about it. For Christmas this year, we came in $22,000 in the hole. It's because of what we took in and what we spent out. We still have money in the bank, but we spent more than we took in for that year." "That is also because of the loan we paid off," said commissioner Michelle Garner. "That is exactly right," said Boileau. "That is what I said, but the auditor is going to say that we should have took that into account before we did it." "Oh, it is going to show us spending more than we had made?” asked commissioner Cindy Smallwood. "Yes," said Boileau. "We didn't spend money on other things that we normally would have spent money on throughout the year," said Smallwood. Boileau recommended creating a budget for the commission to work from in the future to keep the commission in line with state auditors. "I understand that, but still, we are $22,000 in the hole," said Boileau. "It is no big deal, but we need to get some kind of a budget put together. That way, we know what we are going to spend. This $34,000 is gone. It's gone bye-bye. It is just going to build back up. We are good to go for now, it's not really a big deal, but it has been mentioned and it is in the minutes. We are good." Garner told the commission that the company that rented the ice rink for the event has given the city a $2,100 credit to be used for future rentals. "The only reason I brought up the ice rink is because we have a $2,100 credit with the company because we did not use the platform," said Garner. "They charged us for the platform but we ended up not having to use it because the ground was level enough. So, $2,160 will go towards another rental for another event. The ice skating went over very well last year and Valerie (Parker) did get them to send us a quote for a bigger one this year. It comes out to be basically the same price that we paid this year. It is because we have that credit." According to Garner, if they plan to use the ice rink again, they will need to go ahead and work to get it reserved for the next Christmas event. "It is just something that we have to get booked because it will be gone in no time," said Garner. "This was good until Dec. 31 but they knew we weren't going to meet before then. That is just something that we are going to have to decide if we are going to spend the money on it again. Also, Valerie kind of talked to me about how we might need to do it as more of a festival at Christmas now." "I don't know how many people told me they stood in line and never got up there to skate," said Boileau. "There were over 250 waivers signed and you had to sign a waiver to skate," said Garner. "And there were still people wanting to get in there," said Boileau. "That tells me there was participation." Boileau stated that the Thursday before the parade the phone was ringing off of the hook with people wanting to be part of the city's parade. "From what I could understand, it was a pretty good deal," said Boileau. "I haven't heard anything negative about it. Even the parade. I was in that parade for an hour. Someone said that we need to get the UAPB band next year because they rock. They really entertain. Laurie's (Hoots) phone was blowing up the Thursday before the parade with people wanting to enter the parade." "The only thing negative I heard about it was people squalling tires," said commissioner Burt Swiney. According to Boileau, downtown Palestine was decorated beautifully and the commissioners and volunteers who put it together did a great job. "It was lit up great and it looked beautiful," said Boileau. "You all did a super job. You didn't have to worry about running into somebody in the dark. You could actually see who you were talking to. When you walked in, you got to really see it. It was really nice. I took a picture of it the night before and it just really looked good."

Downtown Christmas event costs Palestine A&P an estimated $22,000

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