HBI

DALTON WALKER
ARGUS LEADER MEDIA

July 01. 2009 6:00AM

Less than a month after hosting its first city-wide celebration, the Harrisburg Days Foundation Committee is already preparing for next year's event.
The second annual Harrisburg Days is scheduled for the second weekend in June of 2010.

The foundation last week met formally for the first time since Harrisburg Days to discuss lessons learned and future event possibilities.

About 15 people attending the two-hour meeting.

Despite the chilly temperatures, “we had a really good event,” said Jay Ugofsky, foundation president. “I want to commend this group. We're waiting on the final financial numbers to come through. We're wavering around a happy smile and frowny face.”

During the meeting, foundation members discussed their highs and lows of each event.

About 15 minutes were spent on the Harrisburg Days event. Too many shirts ordered and too much food purchased and a possible parade route change were discussed.

The foundation has about 250 shirts left over and plenty of meat from the pork loin feed.

But most topics swayed back to bad weather and lack of volunteers.

Faythe Yerdon, a teacher at Liberty Elementary, volunteered with the kiddie carnival. She requested a volunteer booth at next year's Harrisburg Days to help with the coordinating.

“I kind of wandered around until I found a green shirt that I knew,” she said. Foundation members wore green shirts during the celebration.

City Utilities Superintendent Dan Fink was at the meeting. The city maintenance team was applauded by the foundation for their help with Harrisburg Days.

“The event needs more volunteers,” Fink said. “Once people see that (the event) did happen, you'll get them.”

The foundation Web site - www.harrisburgdays.com - had been updated recently.

A tag line at the top of the new post reads, “A tradition of music and family fun returns on June 11, 2010!”

A countdown ticker on the page has been reset. It now counts down to next year's event.

“We already had the Web site updated. I'm just going to warn all of you. We all remember how fast those days go,” said a grinning Ugofsky.

Next year's event will be held a week after the community rummage sales. New additions to the celebration include an arts festival.

It's still possible that the rummage sales will be part of Harrisburg Days, Ugofsky said, even with the split weekends. Tea does something similar for Teapot Days.

The next foundation meeting will take place sometime during the next two months. A date has not yet been determined.