Organizers of the weekly Saturday evening fireworks program in St. Ignace are beginning to plan the 2010 summer fireworks campaign, although Chris Shepler of Friends of the Fireworks said fundraising has a long way to go before the group can feel secure about funding the displays.

The program, started in 2009 with $72,000 in donations from local businesses and individuals, is planned again in 2010 for each Saturday night from July 10 through Labor Day weekend.

When committing to donations ranging from $50 to thousands of dollars last year, area businesses pledged to provide identical donations for the 2010 campaign, but Mr. Shepler said last week that actually collecting those pledges in a tough economy may be another story.

“If a business had a bad year,” he said, “even if they already committed, maybe they don't have the dollars to give to Friends of the Fireworks.”

The group has already raised some money from LaSalle High School alumni, to whom the group sent out 2,900 letters requesting donations last fall. These small donations, he said, are important to the effort, but the total funding level is well beneath what they need to put on the weekly shows.

“We are not anywhere near what we need to do this,” Mr. Shepler said, “not to say that it won't come in. We hope that all those funds from last year for the two-year commitments come to fruition.”

One shift in focus in the group's mission this year, he said, is to continue adding festival-type events to the summer event roster now that the Saturday fireworks are in place.

“We are going to focus on upgrading the festival part of the festivals and fireworks program this year,” Mr. Shepler said. “We want to make sure we are adding more festivals on a yearly basis.”

While acknowledging the value of tournaments for sports like wrestling and basketball, he said his group hopes to add to with new festivals with a wider appeal, like the Fish Feast and the music festival.

Lessons learned in the first year, Mr. Shepler said, will help better coordinate fireworks for 2010. For instance, the plan is to begin every show at 10 p.m. to improve consistency, except the July 10 and July 17 shows, which will be held at 10:20 p.m. and 10:11 p.m. because of the longer days in early July.

Each fireworks display will be approximately 13 minutes long, he said, and will attempt to pack that short amount of time with an intense show, with an updated finale featuring new types of fireworks. The group will also attempt to keep a consistent location on Moran Bay from which to fire off the fireworks, although weather and safety concerns can sometimes necessitate a change.

“Those fireworks are going to go off in any type of weather,” he said. “The weather was so unpredictable last year we had to move about a half-mile from our original location. We want to fire them off from the same location on a consistent basis.”

The program should be a little less expensive for donors this year, Mr. Shepler said, because many of the start-up costs for communications will not need to be done in the campaign's second year. He also said the fireworks contractor, Wolverine Fireworks, plans to load their show trailer at their shop downstate and drive up to St. Ignace Saturday mornings, which will eliminate one of the two nights in hotels the crew needed as part of last year's contract.

As well as launching a fundraising campaign with businesses and individuals this spring, the Friends of the Fireworks is also sponsoring a summer-long 50/50 raffle to raise money for the program. Tickets will go on sale May 1, the drawing will be on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and anyone will be able to buy a ticket at any hotel or restaurant in town, at the Chamber of Commerce, or on the street form Friends of the Fireworks members and other volunteers.

The Friends of the Fireworks will start their weekly planning meetings in early April, Mr. Shepler said, when the group will form a clearer picture of its direction and set fundraising plans.

Another group, the St. Ignace Special Events Committee, also works to plan events in St. Ignace and this summer will offer free outdoor movies on Sunday nights at American Legion Park.