Leadership shifts, changes coming for 'Red, White and Boom'

MEDFORD, Ore.– Major changes are coming to the annual Fourth of July celebration in Central Point known as Red, White and Boom.

In a turn of events, The Chamber of Medford/Jackson County has decided to drop its leadership role as organizer for the event.

In a February board meeting, board members voted to suspend the chamber’s role after being a part of the annual event and fireworks show for 18 years. Chamber President Brad Hicks says they’ve been beyond grateful to provide the free and fun event to the community every year but now it’s time to move forward.

“It’s an event we took on because it was important to the community but it’s never been truly an alignment with The Chamber’s mission to serve its members,” he said.

Hicks said The Chamber’s reasoning was due in part to prioritize its mission of being an advocacy and tourism promoter over being an event organizer. In the past, The Chamber has had staff work on projects meant to benefit its own members while simultaneously working on planning for Red, White and Boom.

At some point, Hicks said there wasn’t enough staff to cover the job.

“We would start in earnest, planning Red, White and Boom in January for a July event,” he said. “It would largely fall on the shoulders of one staff person.”

Now, The Chamber is planning to transition the fireworks show over to the City of Central Point. The city will also be partnering with the Jackson County Expo to continue providing a space for the event.

“The fireworks show here was very important to our council and so we want people to come to Central Point and enjoy the day here and that’s what we are going to be focusing our energy on,” said Matt Samitore, parks and public works director for Central Point.

Samitore says the city has always been a sponsor of the event and now plans to put that money usually given to The Chamber towards the fireworks. However, those funds won’t be able to cover the other portion of the show at the amphitheater. That show usually involved musical acts before and during the fireworks but Samitore isn’t quite sure what will happen this year.

“[The Expo] have expressed interest in having something out there but it’s so late in the year for planning I’m not sure whether or not they’ll be able to pull off the same sort of show that folks are used to,” said Samitore. “But I anticipate The Expo will come up with something.”

Indeed, The Expo has been planning on making sure some type of Fourth of July event does happen. After a fire broke out during the fireworks show last year though, they had to make a big decision.

“We all have to sit down at the table and say, ‘Remember this is for entertainment purposes and it’s not a money maker,'” said Helen Funk, director for The Expo. “This isn’t something that anybody was ever profitable at doing and so do we still do it?”

Luckily, both groups are ready to commit and will pay to clear the flammable brush around the lake and launch zone for the fireworks in order to meet standards for a fireworks permit. The cost is great though, The Expo received estimates of about $1,200 to $1,500 per acre to clear.

This could, unfortunately, roll over to the patron making what once was a free event no longer free.

“Unfortunately, everything costs money so not everything gets to be free anymore,” said Funk. She says they’re working to still try and keep costs to patrons as low as they can. They’re not sure what the cost may be at this time and how they might charge.

The City of Central Point says the event will also no longer be known as Red, White and Boom since the name still belongs to The Chamber – leaving some idea it might make a return in the near future. In the meantime, the city will be working to release a new name at a later date.