ELLERBE — Days after cancelling its annual Independence Day festivities, the Ellerbe Lions Club is seeking public input on how to proceed.
The club announced the decision Friday on Facebook after learning of as-yet-unrevealed plans for a big fireworks show at the Rockingham Speedway and Entertainment Complex.
“After a discussion with one of the managing partners at the track at Rockingham where we were informed that they were prepared to spend at least $30,000 and maybe up to $50,000 for their fireworks display and also they were planning for free parking and free admission,we realized that we needed to do something different,” club President Lynn McCaskill said in an email Saturday that was also posted to the Ellerbe Lions Club Raceway Facebook page.
“We discussed this as club members but now we are very interested in getting input from the community at large.”
That meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 28 at the Ellerbe Lions Club.
McCaskill told the RO on Friday that cancelling the small town’s annual jamboree and fireworks display was “definitely not an easy decision.”
Hamlet City Manager Jonathan Blanton told the RO on Saturday that the City Council “agreed to forego” that municipality’s annual fireworks show during a budget planning meeting earlier this month.
While the Ellerbe Lions Club is still trying to decide what to do next, McCaskill did tell the RO last week that, overall, he thinks the show at the speedway is “going to be something good for the county.”
The RO is still waiting to hear back from officials with the speedway and the county.
