SV senior quietly raises a big festival
For those who weren’t paying attention, there was quite an educational and community feat over the weekend in Evans City.
Many festivals will come and go over the coming months. Many of them will function as fundraisers, others will function as community gathers, and there will be a lot of overlap between the two.
But this one — EDCO Fest — adds a third dimension: high school senior project.
For two days, a festival orchestrated by Seneca Valley senior Ronny Royhab took over EDCO Park.
In Monday’s Eagle, staff reporter William Pitts told us about the event and how it came to be.
“They basically told us we could do whatever we wanted ... anything from doing job shadowing to putting on an event to learning a new skill,” Ronny said. “I was originally going to take the easy route and go to a lawyer’s office and see how it works, as my senior project.”
Then the 17-year-old thought of his job at EDCO Park in Evans City, where he’d been working as a lifeguard for four years. The park had given so much to him, and now it was time to give back.
Ronny got a twofer. While not taking the easy route, he put on an event and learned new skills: fundraising and event coordination.
Over the weekend, Evans City residents got to see Ronny’s senior project take shape at EDCO Fest. The two-day event featured numerous live bands, carnival games, a bouncy castle, and a chance for patrons to dunk one of the park’s lifeguards.
The senior project itself was to raise money to start the event in the first place, which Ronny did mainly through attracting sponsorships. Ronny said it took nearly a year to plan EDCO Fest and raise enough money to get it off the ground.
Since the pool closed last year, $14,000 was raised to fund the effort, and dozens of volunteers came together to work the event, including Evans City’s mayor.
“I think it’s going to have a great effect on the park,” said Mayor Dean Zinkhann. “We needed the finances, and Ronny’s really stepped up to the plate for his senior project.”
While Ronny only planned to create one EDCO Fest, he is now convinced the event could become a permanent fixture in Evans City.
He deserves a loud round of applause for this effort. He has proven his great admiration for EDCO park and his employer. We look forward to seeing what the future brings for him.
— RJ
