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, among other items.

Hershberger said the festival committee has $5,000 that it carries over every year as a cushion, but it would still like to raise the whole $20,000 this year and maintain the cushion for next year.

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

Those who are considering sponsorships can visit butlerfallfestival.com and click the link to the Sponsorships webpage.

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

Cohen took the issue to the bureau’s membership through social media 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, although there isn’t yet any kind of package available to market to potential sponsors.