Supervisors and committee members discuss budget, attendees and goals of event
By Nicole Brown, Staff Writer, The Times
BIRMINGHAM – Representatives from the Battle of the Brandywine Reenactment committee discussed the May 2014 event with the Board of Supervisors at the township meeting Monday night.
The reenactment is scheduled for May 17 to 18 in Sandy Hollow Park at the intersection of Birmingham Road and New Street.
The first topic discussed at the meeting concerned the budget, which Supervisor John Conklin explained is still being adjusted. The committee has a draft of the budget that is expected to change and will be presented to the board at a later date.
“What has not changed and has been approved by the board is $5,000 in this year’s expenses and outlays, not counting any revenues, and $20,000 next year, not counting any revenues,” Conklin said.
Co-chair of the reenactment committee Jeff Taylor said that the committee is also working out the best way to seek sponsors for the event, specifically to help ensure a safe and successful weekend for the community. For example, providing water and some kind of first aid station.
“We want to try to cover the funding for those things as much as possible,” Taylor said.
Conklin also brought up the topic of solicitors, as more people have become aware of the planning of the event.
“We are starting to get solicitations from people, just like we did when we had the Anniversary,” Conklin said, and he asked that the board start to think about which solicitors they will allow at the event.
Taylor said the committee has set of goal of 5,000 attendees over the weekend event, and brought up the potential challenges with parking.
Conklin pointed out that there are a number of residents who could walk to the event, limiting the need for extra parking and shuttles.
“We can probably limit the parking to whatever we can fit on the property,” Conklin said.
The committee is also working with the local schools to organize ways for students to come to the reenactment.
“It would be ideal if the kids get some kind of credit for attending the event,” Taylor said.
Linda Kaat, another co-chair of the reenactment committee, reinforced that the purpose of the event is to celebrate our freedoms, not celebrate war.
“What we are trying to do is turn that glorification of battle, the slaughter on Birmingham Hill, into ‘this is how we became the United States of America,’” Kaat said.
The committee is working on flyers and posters to distribute when the event gets closer in an attempt to present this message to the community.
Other topics at the meeting included an approval of a Historical Architectural Review Board certificate for a Birmingham resident to replace the deck behind his house on Wooden Knoll, approval of the advertising for snow removal bids for the 2013/2014 season, and the monthly police report.
Police Chief Tom Nelling presented the report to the board, and provided some statistics compared with last year.
“For the first seven months of 2013, criminal arrests are up,” Nelling said. “There were 75 arrests so far this year and 59 last year.”
Nelling said there is no clear pattern to why there have been more arrests and they have been scattered throughout the township.
