Headline Surfer videos by Henry Frederick / NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- It's called "Spark the Spirit on Canal," but each year the CRA-sponsored event draws lesser crowds with the tree lighting and political speeches, parents tugging their little ones into a hut to have a photo taken with Santa, perhaps a horse-drawn carriage ride and then the mad dash home -- in an about 20 minutes or so.
Such was the case in late November after Thanksgiving weekend with the Community Redevelopment Agency-sponsored-event sought by Canal Street merchants Debbie Peterson and Cindy Jones, who pushed for and got CRA funding in 2008 for an artificial Christmas tree on Canal Street that then-Mayor Sally Mackay justified, saying it would last 10 years.
But like anything in politics, you need to read the fine print. The tree lighting has cost closer to $70,000, when the costs for wiring, putting it up ands taking it down, plus the holiday lights on Canal and Flagler Avenue, all paid for with CRA funds.
That's in addition to the $50,000-plus for a series of lightly attended "Spark the Spirit" events pushed by Jones and Peterson, all at taxpayer expense through CRA funding.
The two businesswomen also received several thousand dollars annually in funding from the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority each of the first three years, but then that funding source dried up when they could not demonstrate the event was putting heads in beds -- meaning there were no out of the county tourists.
Headline Surfer® photos by Henry Frederick / The 2013 Christmas tree lighting on Canal drew about 150 people, who gathered around the artificial structure, which was located this time around at the north end of Christmas Park.
It had previously been on the southern end of the half-acre parcel for a couple of years and before than on the eastern end of Canal and Riverside Drive near the Intracoastal Waterway.
And while Mackay pushed for the tree in 2009 when she was seeking re-election, it was the politician who barely beat her that year, Adam Barringer, who has had the luxury of giving his annual Christmas speech with the artificial tree lighting each of the past five years.
This time around, his speech was far shorter and he was gone in a flash. Perhaps he didn't want toto have to justify the $120,000 in CRA-expended funds to a reporter holding a video camera. Then again, Peterson and Jones didn't stick around either once the reporter showed up.
The Christmas on Canal has been sponsored annually by the Daytona Beach News-Journal, meaning the municipality has paid the News-Journal advertising revenue to promote the event, but Headline Surfer® has been the lone media outlet to actually cover it each of the past five years.
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