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Fall Festival is on after volunteers agree to help

The Butler Fall Festival will go on this year thanks to more than a half dozen volunteers who recently stepped up to fill man-hour shortages.

Fall Festival Committee President Sheri Hershberger said late last month the longtime downtown event might have to be canceled because of a lack of volunteers and funding.

But since then, seven additional volunteers have been recruited.

“Folks were willing to step up and help,” Hershberger said. “It looks like we are proceeding forward with running the festival.”

In addition to an article in the Butler Eagle, she said the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau also played a role recruiting additional volunteers.

However, the event is still short on financial sponsorships.

The loss of support from the Rodfathers of Butler Car Club has left the committee short for the 37th annual festival on Sept. 19.

“It takes about $20,000 in donations to make it happen each year,” she said. “The rain out that we had two years ago impacted us in that we gave away vendor spots last year.”

The costs include police coverage, utilities and using the downtown space,

She said the committee also is looking for a band sponsorship, hopefully getting a well known name to draw people downtown.

Jack Cohen, president of the tourism bureau, said he met this week with Hershberger to talk about recruiting volunteers.

Cohen took the issue to the bureau’s membership and got people talking about the need for the festival to return.

“We wanted to make sure we played a role in helping save the event,” he said. “We all think it’s really important.”

Cohen said he’ll also help Hershberger find sponsorships.

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