By Mercedes Manzolillo
BETHEL — July 15, 2003 – The Ben & Jerry’s Festival will go on as planned on August 23 and 24 at the Woodstock site.
At the Town of Bethel Board meeting on July 9, Larry Wolinsky, who is representing Ben & Jerry’s through Jacobowitz and Gubits, introduced Sarah Sparks, the planner for the “One World One Heart” festival.
According to Sparks, it’s an all-day event. Families of all generations can attend, and there will be music, food, and activities for kids and adults.
There will also be an activity called “postcards-for-change,” where you can write a card to Congress on any issue and turn it in for a free ice cream.
Sparks said Ben & Jerry’s tries to send out educational messages – like the festival, which she called “social mission messaging.”
This is the 13th year of the festival, which has traditionally been held near the company’s corporate headquarters in Vermont. That location was not right, said promoters, for this event, which also is celebrating Ben & Jerry’s 25th anniversary.
Tickets are $32 per person per day, marking this as Ben & Jerry’s first non-free event. Tickets are available on-line, but one can earn free tickets by getting two people registered to vote, according to Sparks. Kids 13 years or younger can attend free.
The maximum occupancy for the event is 30,000 people per day, according to Wolinsky. This is set forth by the town’s permit.
In Other Business
An update on the boating law was given by Matthew Hindin, an intern for the Town of Bethel, he said there had been some modifications to the draft of the law.
The law still requires certificates of boating safety. The punishment for not following the law is no less than 15 days in jail, or no less than $500 in fines. For the period between July 1 and August 1 this summer, on Saturdays and Sundays only, no personal watercraft are allowed on White Lake before 11 a.m. or after 5 p.m.
On August 18, there will be a formal public hearing for the proposed final draft of the boating law.
The town is in the process of setting up a boating safety certificate class.
Some of the public is concerned about how these rules will be enforced. According to Town Supervisor Allan Scott, stricter enforcement will come with more resources and employees.
Also at the meeting, the board passed unanimously a motion to rename Lake Road to Naylor Road for 911 purposes, and they renamed a portion of Naylor Road as Naylor Road Extension for 911 data.
The board also unanimously passed a resolution in support of the County of Sullivan as the lead negotiator for the Indian Gaming Local Services Agreement.