CAMARILLO : Organizers Plan July 4 Fireworks

Despite a mostly indifferent response from Camarillo residents to pleas to help fund the city’s annual Fourth of July celebration, organizers have decided to put on a fireworks show this year.

Rod Franz, president of the volunteer Camarillo Pageant Assn., said the group will spend about $16,500 for a fireworks display at Camarillo Airport at 9 p.m. July 4.

But the celebration will be limited entirely to the fireworks display, without the daylong program of entertainment and games that has been part of previous July 4 events.

Also, Franz warned that the group will spend all of its $8,700 in reserves paying for this year’s show and will have no money to put on a July 4 event next year unless they receive an unexpected windfall.

“That’s it,” he said. “We’re out of the Fourth of July business.”

The pageant association began soliciting money from residents and businesses several weeks ago, saying it needed to raise about $9,000 to put on a show comparable to the previous one.

Bob Stallings of the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District, which organizes the yearly event, said individuals have so far pitched in only $130.

A local developer contributed $2,000 and a dental office made a $250 donation. The only other funds have come from the Camarillo City Council, which approved spending $3,000 on the celebration.

Organizers hope to raise at least another $1,200 in donations and an additional $1,250 by charging $5 for parking at the event, Stallings said. The event itself will be free.