Which means, if you want a fireworks show, you are going to have to leave our town and head next door to Hoffman Estates' Sears Center.

Originally, when the City decided to partner with Hoffman, Elgin Councilperson Moeller stated she wants the Jaycees to be involved in Elgin's side of planning the event. Unfortunately, there was no real planning done from Elgin.

click here Fireworks at 9:30pm

Hoffman Estates had already, mostly, planned the event. All Elgin really did was to get some acts for the small stage and asked if any local businesses establishments wanted a booth. There was no real planning.

Based on this Poll, more than 55% of the respondents said they want the Jaycees to have a fireworks festival IN ELGIN.

Here is a question that came up from someone in the community. Would you donate to have the Fireworks in Elgin by a one time "tax" on your water/city services bill?  This brings us to a new poll:

If you do want to check out the fireworks in Hoffman Estates, here is the link: http://www.northwestfourthfest.com/

Let's see what the Citizens of Elgin are REALLY excited about.  Here's a Poll:

I have no doubt that it will be a good time. The lineup they have for the bands is pretty good. The argument that so many people have, who I've talked to, is that the City said they will be sponsoring five events this year. The Fox Trot, International Festival, 4th of July Parade, Nightmare on Chicago Street, and the Arts Festival

The City said they "could not" provide any in kind services to the Jaycees for the Family Fun Festival or the Fireworks at the beginning of this year. At the end of last year, they said they could not provide any monies for the event either.  However, now the City of Elgin IS providing in kind services AND $15,000 towards a festival and fireworks.

When the Committee of the Whole voted to provide Hoffman Estates with the $15,000, City Councilwoman Anna Moeller stated she wanted the Jaycees to be involved because of the work we've already done. Unfortunately, Hoffman Estates planned almost the whole event already. The involvement with the City of Elgin was minimal but no planning was being done.

The Elgin Jaycees are NOT involved with the Northwest Fourth Festival.

The Jaycees were told the only way we could be involved and get some revenue from the event was to pay for a $2500 BINGO Tent, up front and hope to make profit. We declined this offer.

Elgin used to pay $30,000 just for fireworks. The current budget at the festival is $10,000-$15,000 for a 15-20 minute show. With the added $15,000 from Elgin we can go bigger, just like citizens are used to in an "Elgin feel" fireworks display.

At the Elginista blog, there is a poll where 80% of the respondents are in favor of having the Jaycees do fireworks in Elgin. That percentage seems spot on with everyone I've talked to over the past year.

Councilwoman Moeller, knowing the Elgin Jaycees have been working to bring the fireworks back, requested that the Jaycees be part of the of the Elgin committee for this event. I personally thanked her for mentioning the Jaycees on the record.

Based on all the calls, emails, txt messages, and Facebook messages, it seems like there is a divide in Elgin. The division is between the City of Elgin partnering with Hoffman Estates for celebration at the Sears Center and the Jaycees Family Fun Fest with Fireworks to be held in Elgin.

As I mentioned in a comment on Elginista's blog, it would cost the Jaycees about $60,000 to have the festival. Mayor Kaptain said that he estimates the total cost to hold such a festival in Elgin would cost around $100,000.  The Jaycees event would start small and grow, year after year. Regardless, neither the Jaycees nor the City have the funds to hold the event in Elgin.

While everyone I talk to says they want the Jaycees to have it in town, donations and sponsorships should be at a higher level. However, since the mention of the joint festival surfaced last week, I have been contacted by multiple businesses who want to sponsor. I have been holding off in responding until we had out meetings with the City.

With that said, the Elgin Jaycees does not want a divide in Elgin. Our goal is to make available fireworks for Elgin citizens. The Independence Day Festival does accomplish the goal. The Festival will be better together than having something smaller in each individual town.

The Elgin Jaycees supports and endorses the joint Independence Day Festival with Hoffman Estates and Hanover Park. We will work with the City of Elgin and the Hoffman Estates event commission to make this festival something all citizens will enjoy and will want to attend year after year. We want to make sure there is an Elgin presence and feel, not just in the size of the fireworks, but in bringing the best of what Elgin has to offer to the event so the surrounding communities can experience and enjoy too.

Right now, if you want to go to a fireworks show, you have to leave Elgin. The difference is, this event is closer than the others. The Sears Center is extremely close to Elgin. The other thing is... It's FREE! Free Parking and Free Admittance! I can tell you that the Elgin Jaycee event was going to either charge for parking or charge to enter the festival. The Sears Center event is more economical for residents of the entire area.

I promise to you that the Elgin Jaycees will do our best to ensure Elgin is represented at this festival.

I promise to you to keep you updated and to be totally transparent.

If you want to get involved, want to volunteer, want to voice your concerns or opinions, please leave a comment on this site or send me an email: president@elginjaycees.org

I have had a lot of people contact me about this article. Some were outraged and some were excited. There was no shortage of emotions. There have been businesses asking how they can sponsor the Jaycee event too.

The reason why I am writing this article is to keep everyone up to date in respect to the Jaycees and the Fireworks.

Today, the Jaycees met with the City of Elgin. It was a great meeting and we have set up a couple more meetings.

The thing is, nothing is set in stone. The article was a little premature, in my opinion, and it has not been voted on by the Elgin City Council.

The main thing the Jaycees wants to do is have fireworks for Elgin Residents. An event where the City partners with another city to have fireworks, does accomplish that goal even if it is not physically in Elgin.

I will let you know more, once we have our next meeting.

Thank you for your support,

Michael Copeland
66th President of the Elgin Jaycees

So we thought, why not combine the two!

Elgin is a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures. Celebrating our diversity is something we should do each year. Now with 1 festival you can experience ethnic food and other delights of this great town of ours!

Also, in the meeting with the City, we discovered they are not able to provide any in kind services. This means we will have to raise all the funds to have this great festival.

This festival is for the community,  by the community and requires community involvement from citizens, businesses and organizations.

With that said, our plan is to have non-profit groups involved to handle certain areas or aspects of the event. For example, one non-profit group could handle the stage or entertainment, and another could handle the children's area.

So Elgin, if you are a non-profit organization and want to be involved in an amazing event for our Great City of Elgin, please contact us (see below).

If you are someone in an ethnic group or organization and would love to have a booth and/or serve ethnic food at the event, please contact us (see below).

The event will be at Festival Park Saturday and Sunday, June 30 - July 1.

We want to be totally transparent. With the City of Elgin not being able to provide in kind services due to budgetary constraints, we will have to pay for the EFD and EPD to provide their services. We will also have to pay for any other City services required to run this festival. This means the budget has doubled.

Since the budget has doubled, we really need the involvement of businesses, citizens, and organizations in order to bring back the fireworks this year.

With that said, if we do not raise enough funds, we will not be able to have fireworks this year either. Normally the fireworks alone would cost around $30,000 however, our intent is to scale it down for this first year and focus more on sustainability of the event.

What can YOU do to help?
Whatever you can!

• Talk to your employer to see if they may be interested in making a tax deductible donation.
• Make a donation yourself, every dollar helps!
• Talk to your non-profit organization and see if they want to be involved.
• If you're in an ethnic group, talk to them about being involved in the event and get involved.
• Volunteer to help at the festival.
• Partner with us and co-brand this event with the name of your business, organization, family.
• Spread the word!
• Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Thank you!

Michael S. Copeland
Elgin Jaycees President - 2012
mike@elginfireworks.com
847-380-2670

PRESS Inquiries contact Michael Copeland or:
info@elginfireworks.com

To get more info about the event send an email to:
info@elginfireworks.com

If you would like to make a donation please click the Donation button on the right or
email: donations@elginfireworks.com

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or partner, please contact:
sponsors@elginfireworks.com

The topic of discussion will be FIREWORKS! If you can make it out we'd love to talk about the fireworks festival, fundraising, and more.

ITN Deli is located at

185 North Edison Avenue, Elgin, Illinois 60123
Phone Number: 847-888-WITN(9486)

First of all, this website -

During the month of June on up to the 4th of July there were thousands of hits to this website.  This means people were searching online for "Elgin Fireworks".

This is exciting because it shows there is a demand and PEOPLE WANT THE FIREWORKS BACK!

Community Meetings

We have had several community meetings with  people who wanted to just give input and ideas to people who are ready and willing to help make sure this happens.  Regardless of everyone's commitment  or involvement level, it is all welcomed.

The Jaycees wants this event to be for the community, by the community. It won't happen without community involvement. With that said, there have been a lot of great ideas brought forth about the festival and ways we can make this a self sustainable event.

City

Due to schedule conflicts, we have not met with the city of Elgin recently but plan to soon. The Mayor and City wants this to happen, we just need to solidify everyone's involvement cross our t's and dot the i's.

YOU

We need your help. Our Sponsor page will be up soon for donations and sponsorships. If you won't be able to donate, then you could possibly lend your time to help at the event, or at the town hall, or getting sponsors, or just spreading the word.

YOU are part of this community. Let's do this together.

Our plan is to have a festival after the 4th of July parade. We will end the day with a night time fireworks display.

We want this to be BY the community, FOR the community. So we need your help.

We will have a meeting on 7/9/2011 12 noon at In The Neighborhood Deli 185 N. Edison to discuss the next steps moving forward. You are invited!

Please put a comment below and/or come to the meeting. This effort will take the community and the local businesses.

The City of Elgin canceled the fireworks a few years ago due to budget cuts.

There are no fireworks for 2011 in Elgin.

YOU CAN CHANGE THAT!

The Elgin Jaycees are working to bring them back but we need community support.

- Michael S. Copeland
Community Development VP
Elgin Jaycees
email: cdvp@ElginJaycees.org

Please watch the video and leave a comment below.

The idea the Jaycees have is to make this a day long event, after the parade, ending with a firework show.  This will be a family oriented event with vendors, activities, food, and more.

We are looking for a location which can accommodate the requirements for a fireworks show, house the event, and have ample room for parking and fun.

In order for us to make this happen, we will need the help of the community.

You may or may not know the fireworks were canceled because of budget constraints. This means we have to raise the money with donations and sponsors.

Everyone we have spoken to about bringing the fireworks back smile and become excited.  We're excited about this opportunity and are happy to present this to the community of Elgin.

The main thing we need to kick this off is money.  We have to raise a minimum of $30,000 in order to make this happen. Whether you can donate $5 or $5,000 everything will be appreciated and will go towards this project.

I encourage you to spread the word.  Over the next few months, we'll update this site with information about how to donate.  We will also offer sponsorship packages as well.

If you would like to help out, or be on our community advisory group, please let me know.

- Michael S. Copeland
Community Development VP Elgin Jaycees
email:  cdvp {at} elginjaycees.org