That was for HDDC...

I do NOT live in Janesville, I live in Milton. However, I always LOVED the Janesville carnival when it was at Traxler. I am NOT going to attend a carnival with my kids that I deem unsafe.

It does indeed make more sence to have it at Traxler Park so that it co-insides with our great Ski Team, The Rock Aquajays. I would be very happy to donate to the fireworks but I would hope that we could have it done with before the event. Just let me know where to send it.....

Thank You MOM yes the community needs more people to get involved. The Odd Fellows are listed in the AT&T book. 22 N. Main St. Janesville.

BTW - I am not just full of Ideas, I would love to get involved

Does anyone remember the "anything that floats raft race" that started at the 4-mile bridge? Wouldnt that be fun if that got started up again, it was always the first thing that took place to kick-off the day. They need more organizations to co-ordinate each activity. get the girl scouts/boy scouts, Boys/girls club, Janesville Youth baseball or the American Legion(tournaments) Marinas (for river activities), etc to each plan an event and schedule them throughout the day or weekend, then its not the responsibility of just one organization to pull the whole show off. I think we could do away with the trashy carnival, the 4-H Fair is coming in a few weeks! We need more variety in activities to draw a different crowd, not just the beer-tent and music.

Linda, What's up with that is the Lack of Community Support. Most People In Janesville think that the fireworks are paid for with Tax Dollars from the city. They Are NOT! And Because of the Lack of Support, The Jaycees Gave up the show to other Organizations. Its Disappointing to hear so many complaints, and No requests to donate or where to donate too.

The donation for next years fireworks should start right now. It should continue throughout the year until we reach the next 4th of July. Send out information on where to send the money too and you'll have my money. If everyone sends a $1, we would have amazing fireworks. If you can't afford $1, that is fine as long as you're not on here complaining. If you are...tough sh*t. You get what you pay for.

How come the areas around us that are smaller always have a very nice 4th of July plan and no problems with paying for the fireworks, yet here in Janesville, we never seem to know until the last moment if we are even going to afford them? What's up with that???

Frist, The event was held at the Youth Sports Complex because of the flooding and contamination in 2008. THE CITY WANT'S IT BACK AT TRAXLER PARK.

Second, If all the people that attended the Fireworks and sat outside the event area (Lab parking lot, Gazette parking lot, Ect.) would send $1.00 per person to the Odd Fellows they would have plenty of funds to start next years event. As for EMMO46, how much did you donate to the fireworks? Why do you think this is your special event? BOO HOO.

Third, What happened to supporting the community you live in? By going to other surrounding towns, you support them not us. It seems that the people that do not support us are the biggest conplainers.

THANK YOU TO ALL SUPPORTERS! THE REST SHOULD ASK FOR AN ADDRESS TO DONATE TO, SO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN NEXT YEAR!!!

"Perhaps some people here wish to volunteer hundreds of hours (and your whole 4th weekend) to make it viable for Janesville?"

Good point. Freedom Fest takes 350 volunteers and help from six churches to pull off, and they break even at best.

you know i went into a convenience store on the 4th an the donation jar was still sitting there,they didnt even pick it up.talk about unorganized,i agree with others bring it back to traxler.

I think there could be a small town feel again I realize the 4th just happened but I don't feel like it.What we need is local entertainment maybe a music competition leading up to the 4th full coverage so people want to know how it turns out.Games that promote Janesville Business and run by Janesville Business they would offer gift cards or coupons or both.There was a lot of money that left Janesville during and after the Holiday.People either going out of town or the carnies who made their money and left

I would like to thank the Odd fellows for trying to save this years festivities. I was a Jaycee for many years, and remember one year that we tried to make it more community friendly (Children's fishing derby with prizes , family karaoke ,food tent , even a bingo tent) Problem is only a handful of people want to help and it is to much for just a handful of volunteers part of a community service club. Perhaps some people here wish to volunteer hundreds of hours (and your whole 4th weekend) to make it viable for Janesville?

I normally don't comment but find I have to respond to statements I heard on WJVL. What qualifies this person from the Oddfellows to question my patriotism because I did not attend and contribute to their "festivities. I am a currently unemployed US Army Veteran and I did not notice anyone paying my bills on the fourth. From the flyers I saw posted, they had two bands this year, one of which is based in Madison and is so poor an entertainment choice, I would not cross the street to hear, much more attend an event to celebrate the birth of our nation. There used to be a lot of local talent at festivities in this city, why go out of town to hire low-class talent and expect us citizens to spend money to see it? I'm done ranting now with more left unsaid. I would appreciate some response. CONVINCE ME TO ATTEND.

I agree with Only1opinion. The Gazette should poll readers on where the fireworks/festivities should be held. I am big on tradition and miss watching them from the center or "heart" of the town. I understand they were moved last year due to flooding, and did watch them last year. I was really disappointed they were not back at Traxler this year. If it had something to do with last year's flooding, then OK -- move it back NEXT year. I will watch from Traxler.

As for the other festivities, I have only attended them a few times. Each time I've attended, I noticed was how dirty and rickety the rides and games were. It's never been much of an "attraction" in my mind. It seemed the only thing highly attended is the beer tent (surprise). The majority of the people looking for a family event seem to look elsewhere.

I have lived in Janesville all my life and there has been talk of a decline in attendance at the Fourth of July "festivities" for many years before this GM blow hit us. Lack of money in our local economy has only reminded people to pick and choose how to to spend -- for me, Janesville's "festivities" just aren't worth it. We left town this year all-together.

And yes, Freedom Fest is a competitor. It's free to the public. Hey, in tough times, free is a great word -- for just about anyone! And I do not need a beer tent to have a great time.

I do miss standing on the Memorial bridge and feeling the booms and hearing it echo down the river, but I would go to them no matter where they are.

I think the argument about location is not valid. It's ten minutes from one side of town to the other. If people aren't willing to drive ten minutes, it won't matter where the fireworks are. I agree with those who mention New Life's event. It was jam packed with lots of activities. That's tough to compete with. The problem for Janesville, is that we've never established a solid event that people are willing to skip other events to attend. For example, my wife and I drive to Delavan to see their display, because it's right on the lake and it's generally good. I would also argue that this year isn't the best example. It's been a tough year for many in the area financially. As a result, financial support wasn't what it could have been.

"The attendance is going to be bad every year unless they move it back to traxler."

How is Traxler such a great location if the organisers lose money every year?

glock21sf - FINALLY, someone with some common sense. Good post. They only moved them there the last two years because of the water problems. Maybe they will be back in the future. Even if they are back there, they still need MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

big surprise coming from Lost_city, sources should have told him to stay away!!! I thought the fireworks show was VERY good, and cost 10K less. I wish this city would pull our heads out of our arse and stop blaming everyone but the ones who should be blamed!! If we want a better show perhaps we should volunteer and maybe donate! If not, then we should not complain because we are in control of how good they are.

I was disappointed. I had a perfect view of the fireworks last year from my home. They moved the "launch pad" towards Hy 14 this year, and all I could see were a few very high bursts. The rest were all blocked by my neighbor's houses.

If they were at traxler park I would have gone. I think the sports complex is boring venue

Bring them back to Traxler and I would attend the festivities and have my business donate money.

I attended the carnival and other festivities this year and donated to the cause. I brought my children out for some games and to go on rides but after going into the carnival, I decided that rides were out of the question because they didn't look very well kept or safe and they were 3-4 dollars a ride. Instead we played some games, bought some kettle corn, listened to some music, kids had their faces painted, and they threw some balls at the dunk tank. The safety and cost of the rides was my only disappointment.

One thing that could have contributed to the poor turnout is the way things were handled leading up to the festivities. Last week, and I can't remember who it was exactly, but someone was talking about getting support and how it wouldn't happen again next year if the support wasn't there this year. To me it kind of shocked me because it didn't sound like they were promoting what was going on for the Fourth, it seemed as though they were threatening us with an ultimatum. I know it made me not want to go, but I still did for my kids.

There also didn't seem like there was that much to do there. I mean lots of other communities have more to do for the average adult than a beer tent and bands playing. There are plenty of games that people would pay a fair entry fee to play that don't cost much to run and at the sports complex one thing they have is room to play some games. If there were a softball tournament, tug of war, bean-bag toss, kickball, vollyball, or any other type of activities going on, you would get a much better turnout I think.

Competition has to be a factor. The New Life fireworks/family event seems to grow each year which has to impact the fourth event in Janesville. Smaller communities, like Milton, have all-day family events such as a parade, softball tournaments, music, etc. This has to compete with the Janesville event.

I have taken the family to a small northern Wisconsin town for the holiday weekend the past couple of years. The day there starts with a parade where the kids ride decorated bikes through town, followed by the main parade. Then there is music, entertainment, arts and crafts show, car show and awesome barbeque. There is a late afternoon water ski show and then a great fireworks display at night. A great family/community day with no carnival rides as the main attraction.

Lost_city - Do you have any idea how much money the New Life gets from it's members to put on those fireworks? It's an absurd amount. Where do you think the money comes from? The sky? Of course there's are good. They get a ton of money donated. Janesville's are only going to be so good if they don't get the money. You essentially are watching a free show with the New Life's. It's because of the attitude of people like you why Janesville's aren't very good. Because you want a free show.

I left half-way thru the show. Why? Because it was not worth watching, it was no where near the show the New Life Church put on.
I don't care if you hold in Traxler park or my back yard I would not waste my time to watch.

WHY CAN'T THEY GO TO MONTERAY STADIUM GREAT PLACE FOR THEM

I did not even know Janesville was having any fireworks until the Monday before when I asked someone. I didn't hear anything about it or see any fliers.

the fireworks were moved to the sports complex because of flooding! Remember! this year they stayed there because traxler park is still too waterlogged. next year they should bring it back to traxler.

gina51, don't confuse attendance at the carnival with attendance for the fireworks. The Traxler location (low ground) REQUIRED that people cram into a small area just to see the fireworks display, but the Jaycees still never made money. I would guess that more people can actually see the fireworks now from the surrounding area, just by driving to a side street. In the past, you had to actually drive downtown, which was a snarl of traffic.

I do not like the new location, it is too residential. Many people around us were commenting on how when the fireworks were at Traxler park you could hear and actually feel the booms coming from the river valley. I also liked that, added another element to the visual. I don't understand why people complain about not enough room in Traxler, I have sat on the bridge and watched the fireworks for over 30 years and loved it and had no problem walking to my car and getting right out. The traffic problems this year were crazy and people were trying to speed through Wuthering Hills to get home with lots of pedestrians. I for one will not be attending the fireworks next year if they are again at the sports complex. I don't mind change if it is for the better but I don't see improvement in this one. IMO

The fireworks display was much, much better than last year, yet less money was spent. How did that happen?

The Youth Sports Complex is the best place for the display (high ground, visible for miles), but probably not the best place for activities (not centrally located).

luvinlife - The good bands are in Milton every year.
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gina51 - Of course the fireworks aren't going to be up to parr if there's a lack of funding. Good fireworks requires money. Money that is going to have to be donated. If not, you get what you get and nobody should complain about it. Nothing is free. 2007 was some of the best I've seen in this town. That's because a bunch of money was donated. This year, they cut back because they didn't have that happen. .

Maybe one of the reasons for poor attendance was because the athletic complex is so far away from the center of our town. Many people walked to the fireworks in the past but no one from the 4th ward is going to walk that far. Many people don't have cars. When the fireworks were at Traxler Park they were centrally located so people could come from all over the city. I can imagine the parking would ave been horrendous if more people attended. Also for the past couple of years we have read in the paper about lack of funding for the fireworks. That may lead people to believe that the fireworks maybe are not up to parr. I went to Racine and watched fireworks on the lake. The most beautiful fireworks I've ever seen...

you complain in janesville about your fireworks...you could have been in brodhead for ours....the stupid fireworks lasted 9 minutes thats all. 9 minutes so dont complain about your fireworks because im sure they were better and longer than ours

I attended the fireworks this year. Traxler park is a better place for the fireworks. Why are the bands only in the beer tent area? To make them sound better if you have consumed way too much tap beer? I am sure there have to be talented bands that younger people would enjoy. As my teenage daughter said. Who wants to see old people in a band???

We went to the carnival on Thursday night, as it was billed as children's night. It was supposed to start at 6:00 and by 6:30 they still only had 1 carnival ride working. Watching workers attempt to put together the other rides and hearing them say things like "come on son of a whore" did not make me happy. They finally got another ride working and when they started putting children on it, one of the belts went flying off. Then they switched operators on that ride to a woman who repeatedly yelled "this is not my job I'm not supposed to be doing this, I don't know how to do it" at anyone who would listen. We left very quickly.

I wasn't in town to see the fireworks but I hope they never go away. Maybe the paper should do an on line vote as to where the event should be held next year.

The Odd Fellows asked for a dollar a person and I would have given them that but I never saw any canisters out and I wasn't going to send them a 1.00 check. Make it easier for people to donate. Maybe start setting out canisters now when the 4th is fresh in peoples minds.

My family & I have almost always gone out of town for the 4th weekend. We go up north to a town that really does put on a great weekend of events. They have softball tournaments all weekend long, a pancake feed, a parade, craft show, horse pulls, beach party, fireworks, raffles, street dances at night, car show. It's so much fun, we've made it a tradition. Janesville doesn't have a 'fun family' weekend. yeah they have a carnival, big deal the fair will be here in a couple weeks with better and probably more safe rides (previous post said they didn't look safe) I think if Janesville tried to put a little more into the holiday they might get a better turn out. Even Shophiere has managed to keep their weekend great!

I drove up to a parking lot to watch the fireworks near the area. On the way up there, it was crazy how many people were out in front of their houses lined up down the streets having parties and watching the fireworks. You are going to have a hard time getting people to come directly into an event when many have things planned at their own homes and don't want to drive or deal with the crowds, etc. I disagree that Traxler park was better. You cannot see hardly anything unless you are right underneath them down there. Donated money is going to have to happen in order to keep the fireworks afloat. Do you have any idea what a $1 a person would bring for fireworks? And please, leave the GM B.S. out of this story. Every community is struggling and it isn't all because of GM.

I find it quite interesting that the Janesvile Gazatte runs a front page headline about the fireworks, has a big party in their parking lot for the fireworks, and yet according to the oddfellows, donated NO money to them for the fireworks.

This is sad news in this day and age that people will not support the local fireworks show, but these same people will support the local bar I haven't seen where any of them are closing down, as far as g.m the firework show has nothing to do with g.m say what you want it's all about people not caring about or not remembering what this day stands for. And the fact that the police harrass people with there own home shows kinda takes away from what this holiday is about.

I commend the odd fellows. They took over a task that was already on the downward spiral. If I was them, I would tell the community to ante up earlier in the year or there will not be any show. Also, having it at the sports complex is much better than trying to cram 600 cars into the little parking lot at traxler.

Historically, haven't a lot of people just gone to Milton and maybe even other communities? When I was growing up, we always chose Milton's fireworks since they were a lot easier to actually see than anything in Traxler Park since it never had enough space for all the people who would go to see it...of course, when the festivities moved to the new park in Milton, I didn't find things as easy-to-see as when they were behind the high school, but maybe moving the fireworks provided an excuse for more Janesville residents to check out other smaller area fireworks displays and festivals (as an earlier comment mentioned that they went to Whitewater). Kudos to the Odd Fellows for trying, but does Janesville really NEED its own festivities when so many smaller communities have always done a great job as well? If nothing else, maybe its members want to check out the "competition"...what were they doing to get money and support for their shows and events? And in Rock county, the competition isn't generally Madison since people don't usually drive that far for the carnival...they go where they sense the crowds will be lighter, those smaller communities surrounding Janesville.

I didn't know anything about fireworks or a carnival in Janesville. Was there a parade? I have no idea, never heard anything about it. I wouldn't drive anywhere to see fireworks & deal with a crowd anyway - we can see the Freedom Fest fireworks from our driveway.

Doesn't it seem like independence is passe these days anyway? It's a little strange to celebrate independence in a city where half are relying on the government to pay their bills. Who cares about independence as long as the check clears? No wonder a celebration like this fails on an ever steepening decline in Janesville.

I love the common sentiment - just have the city take over the funding! Better yet - we should ask Great Britain to do it.

Complaining about a lack of funding has never helped in the past with the Jaycees - I'm not sure that the Odd Fellows should follow that strategy. This community isn't a real supportive one. No surprise there. Look at any community event - it's always the same people attending every one. 90% of the community thumb their nose at community and prefer to just go to a movie. If someone wants to make the fireworks work again they have to figure out how to make a good enough event that people can't bear to do without it.

excuse me, "that would be a big slap in the face"

I saw that Woodman's sponsored the fireworks Friday night in Madison!!!! I will be checking with friends in the Odd Fellows to see how they helped here. That wood be a big slap in the face if they were not on the list.

I hope the Odd Fellows remember where all of there donation canisters are. Two businesses I visited late Saturday afternoon still had theirs on the counter full of cash???

People celebrate our Independence by setting off fireworks made in China... ironic, no?

Just a couple of suggestions: 1.) Have city take over funding ... designate profit (estimated at $20,000) from junior hockey league for this. 2.) Scale back event to just one day (fireworks/music only). 3.) Return event to Traxler Park.

I think moving it from Traxler Park only added to the demise. What an awful decision to keep it at the youth sports complex. I don't know what the planners were thinking in that one. clearly they were not. Obviously the dismal state of the Janesville economy also has much to do with poor donations, attendance, ext. People seem to forget we have unemployment that is ranking up there amongst the highest in the entire country.
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Devilsadvocate:
Illegal fireworks are nothing new. When I was a kid we use to make runs to Tennessee or Missouri to but some top notch stuff for our own personal display(and sell it on the black market as well). To get fireworks equal to a display like the city puts on is very difficult; however. Those are class B fireworks, and you often need a special license to legally obtain those (no matter what state you are in). Most of the stuff you can buy outside the state is all Class C, and albeit some pretty good stuff, it does not compare to the sheer prodigious quality of Class B fireworks which are very hard for the average person to obtain without a permit. If you have connections over seas, that is the easiest way to get them. However; that has been made very difficult as well in recent years, with the formation of homeland security.

We didn't attend the carnival, but then we never went to Traxler for the carnival there either. We did park in an area where we could view the fireworks from our car ( as we did last week )
Both fireworks displays were great! hats off to the Fireworks companies for providing Great displays! Thanks to the Odd Fellows For stepping up to the plate and taking over.
You had my donation and will send another.
It's about time the City stepped up and backed at least the display. Other communities larger and smaller seem to be able to put on displays with out completely depending on donations, what is so special about Janesville not taking part? We can wave money about for studies, and projects that people have openly been against, but something like a fireworks display....

I refused to attend the carnival here in Janesville after last year. The rides were in poor condition. They did not look safe. The same carnival that was here last year was here again this year. I attended the carnival in Whitewater where my husband's family is from. There was not any lines there either, but I felt safe and we all had a great time.

The fireworks display was good. People liked it at Traxler Park better though. And , "Hello" the local economy is in shambles. Not a surprise on the support issue. Janesville doesn't need GM is all I heard for the last 10 years...wanna bet.

It has come to the point, where there are so many illegal fireworks, in our neighborhood, they rival the local celebration. Long gone is the day that neighbors had sparklers and an occasional bottle rocket. Full fledged aerial displays fill the sky, compliments of the neighbors. Really no need to fire up the car and drive anywhere, to enjoy fireworks. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Comments?

wow - the fireworks display was very good -- one of the best i've ever seen from a city this size. as for it being a three day event, admittedly, i attended none of it. we had our own neighborhood events. isn't that what community is all about - being actively involved in your own neighborhood?
our friends from chicago will be back up next year to enjoy janesville.
let's hope city officials have enough sense to have yet another successful fireworks display next year -- and have it at the youth center.