I was excited about the Metro NY Balloon and Music Festival when it came to town last year. Imagine such an event right around the corner with performers from my youth such as Joan Jett! After finding out the cost of tickets, I decided to volunteer to offset the price. The only problem is volunteers have to arrive at 5 AM, a tall order when you have children and a business to run.
I wondered if I was being cheap when I thought $10 parking and $25 entry fees were outrageous - never mind the hundreds of dollars it costs to actually go up in a balloon. We are a family of four so I spoke to friends in the same situation. Both felt the prices were outrageous and were more beneficial for those profiting from this event rather than this area. In fact, my friend estimated for a family of four to experience the entire event (ride bracelets, a snack, balloon rides for everyone) would cost more than her last vacation to Disney. When I received a call to volunteer this year, I just chuckled and passed. In fact, we went camping in East Hampton instead to get away from the hectic pace in the neighborhood (we've grown accustomed to the quiet). Our entire weekend cost about 100 bucks and the kids had a great time.
After returning home, I still felt a bit guilty about skipping the festival another year. After checking out this blog, I realized my friends and I have plenty of company from the comments:
I am sure many people enjoyed this event, though I doubt many are from around here. With the foreclosure rates so high in our area, people can barely keep a roof over their heads never mind attend such as pricey festival. How is this fun for the majority of our residents, who really can't afford it? Even those who are making ends meet, such as my friends and I, worked hard to get there and aren't ready to fritter away funds for a day trip.
There are things that would be fun and affordable for everyone. I am still concerned about the everyday quality of life in our neighborhood. What happened to our million dollar pool? Another summer goes by with no pool for our residents to appreciate. A decent town pool in our area is long overdue. Will there ever be a skate park or rec center for our kids? While people cluck at the kids skateboarding by the Community Library, they have no suggestions for alternative recreation. Where are they supposed to go? There are the things I want to see happening in our neighborhood...how about you?
2 comments:
The swimming pool near the High School is open and really nice, though not Olympic size, which is a shame, but it is a pool. If you haven't been there, do check it out. Rather a pain that you have to become a member though if you want to swim more than six times a year...
Thanks for letting me know it reopened. I do agree membership is a pain...there are so working class residents here who cannot afford it - when I lived in other areas of LI, no membership was required.
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