Morro Bay won't hold Fourth of July fireworks show this year

There will be no Morro Bay fireworks show this Fourth of July because the volunteer team that raised funds and organized the event disbanded — and a new group couldn’t be recruited in time.

The city of Morro Bay still will hold an Independence Day celebration as it has in past years, with the Morro Bay Mile Skateboard Push Race, a bike parade and live music at Tidelands Park.

The fireworks show may resume next year.

For the past five years, the nonprofit Morro Bay Fourth has planned the event and raised money, collecting about $20,000 for fireworks and an additional $15,000 for other activities.

The city took over the event planning this year, allocating about $5,000 toward daytime festivities but not enough to pay for fireworks.

“There’s always going to be a fireworks discussion in any coastal community,” said Christine Johnson, a Morro Bay councilwoman. “The nonprofit will remain in place for the time being, and there may be some seed money within the nonprofit to start up the fireworks show again next year.”

Johnson, serving as a council liaison for the Fourth of July activities, said that this year’s celebration will include a dedication of a new bridge that will connect north Morro Bay with the Embarcadero.

Those participating in the bike parade, which attracted more than 600 people last year, will be able to use the new bridge.

Dan Podesto, past president of Morro Bay Fourth, was among a six-member group that announced in January that it was stepping down from volunteer coordinator duties.

“There was burnout for the people who had been doing it for the past five years,” Podesto said Wednesday. “The idea initially was that it would be a fluid organization with a constant influx of new people stepping in every couple of years.”

The group advertised that it needed new volunteers and posted notifications on social media, Podesto said, but only one person volunteered to fully invest in the effort — with a couple of others offering to lend a hand when they could.

The nonprofit will remain intact through the end of the year with hopes of recruiting new volunteers, Podesto said.

“I know often the fireworks are what people remember, but for me personally, seeing the kids out enjoying themselves in the sunshine and the acts geared to them, that’s the best part,” Podesto said. “Just seeing everyone gathered in the park enjoying each other’s company is a great celebration of the Fourth, and I’d be OK with that if that’s how it stays in the future.”

Podesto said Cayucos and Pismo Beach could be local options for those seeking the nighttime pyrotechnics.

Although the event planning has been fun, he said, fundraising became a difficult task in recent years, with the volunteer group dropping from 20 to 25 members five years ago to just six in the past couple of years.

The city kicked in $10,000 to make up a shortfall to pay for last year’s fireworks by reallocating money that wasn’t used for tourism, but the council said it couldn’t promise that funding in the future.

Johnson also said that a fireworks show presents other challenges. The fog in Morro Bay can shroud the fireworks, and because of bird nesting areas, the barge used to shoot off the fireworks has had to be positioned closer to Los Osos.

But Johnson said she and the city are open to the idea of a 2016 fireworks show if local businesses, including the hotel industry, support a display.

“Maybe next year, the funds from the community will come through,” Johnson said. “This year isn’t a deal-breaker for us.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Morro Bay won't hold Fourth of July fireworks show this year."