Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Imperial Beach to go Boom

Citizen fundraisers pledge to raise $25,000 for July 4th fireworks

Want one of these T-shirts? 20 bucks.
Want one of these T-shirts? 20 bucks.

Last year, the City of Imperial Beach didn't fund fire works and initially had planned not to have the celebration in 2014 or 2015. But then Candy Unger and Tim O'Neal formed “I heart IB" and started pounding the pavement to raise money.

Unger and O'Neal have pledged to come up with $25,000 to pay half the cost of the fireworks — and last week, the city council voted to sign a contract with an Alpine-based fireworks outfit to put on the show.

"We have raised $13,233, not including money from our T-shirt sales," Unger said. "They're $20. I have all sizes in white…the blue ones are on back-order."

Sponsored
Sponsored

So far, T-shirts have added about $1000 toward the goal, she said. The group also has donation cans in three dozen locations throughout I.B. Unger said one of the cans was stolen from a 7-Eleven and the store manager asked the group to remove another one out of worry that it, too, would be nabbed.

"The cans raise about $100 a week, but we found if you personally take one door-to-door you can raise about $100 an hour," Unger said. She is now urging people to consider collecting donations. "It's crunch time, and I'm getting nervous.”

The group has a fundraising event on June 23, when Sea180 Coastal Tavern will donate 15 percent of its proceeds from guest tabs to the fireworks effort.

"You have to present the flyer [from the website] to your waitress for us to be included," Unger said.

The city has also agreed to pay $5000 to Tin Fish, the restaurant at the end of the pier, so they can close for 36 hours without losing revenue and so the pyrotechnics crews can use the pier to launch and clean up afterward.

I.B. mayor Jim Janney said the council voted to commit to the costs last week even though all the money hasn't been raised yet.

"The timing was so short that we went ahead and signed the contract," Janney said.

The city's $25,000 contract with Pyrotechnic Spectaculars, Inc., pays for 17 to 18 minutes of flash that will include the detonation of 2277 devices — including 367 in the grand finale, according to contract notes.

Per the contract, the city is responsible for getting a permit from the State Water Resources Board. The permit, insurance, and public safety costs will run to about $25,000, Janney said.

In May of last year, the San Diego County Grand Jury concluded after an audit that the city's spending and accounting practices were such that Imperial Beach needed "to take strong action to get their financial house in order."

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Fellini of Clairemont High

When gang showers were standard for gym class
Want one of these T-shirts? 20 bucks.
Want one of these T-shirts? 20 bucks.

Last year, the City of Imperial Beach didn't fund fire works and initially had planned not to have the celebration in 2014 or 2015. But then Candy Unger and Tim O'Neal formed “I heart IB" and started pounding the pavement to raise money.

Unger and O'Neal have pledged to come up with $25,000 to pay half the cost of the fireworks — and last week, the city council voted to sign a contract with an Alpine-based fireworks outfit to put on the show.

"We have raised $13,233, not including money from our T-shirt sales," Unger said. "They're $20. I have all sizes in white…the blue ones are on back-order."

Sponsored
Sponsored

So far, T-shirts have added about $1000 toward the goal, she said. The group also has donation cans in three dozen locations throughout I.B. Unger said one of the cans was stolen from a 7-Eleven and the store manager asked the group to remove another one out of worry that it, too, would be nabbed.

"The cans raise about $100 a week, but we found if you personally take one door-to-door you can raise about $100 an hour," Unger said. She is now urging people to consider collecting donations. "It's crunch time, and I'm getting nervous.”

The group has a fundraising event on June 23, when Sea180 Coastal Tavern will donate 15 percent of its proceeds from guest tabs to the fireworks effort.

"You have to present the flyer [from the website] to your waitress for us to be included," Unger said.

The city has also agreed to pay $5000 to Tin Fish, the restaurant at the end of the pier, so they can close for 36 hours without losing revenue and so the pyrotechnics crews can use the pier to launch and clean up afterward.

I.B. mayor Jim Janney said the council voted to commit to the costs last week even though all the money hasn't been raised yet.

"The timing was so short that we went ahead and signed the contract," Janney said.

The city's $25,000 contract with Pyrotechnic Spectaculars, Inc., pays for 17 to 18 minutes of flash that will include the detonation of 2277 devices — including 367 in the grand finale, according to contract notes.

Per the contract, the city is responsible for getting a permit from the State Water Resources Board. The permit, insurance, and public safety costs will run to about $25,000, Janney said.

In May of last year, the San Diego County Grand Jury concluded after an audit that the city's spending and accounting practices were such that Imperial Beach needed "to take strong action to get their financial house in order."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Halloween opera style

Faust is the quintessential example
Next Article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader