Some residents have misgivings about beer tent at July 4th in Lyndonville
LYNDONVILLE – The upcoming Independence Day celebration in Lyndonville, the 50th anniversary bash to be put on by the Lyndonville Lions Club, will include a beer tent at the end of the parking lot behind the town hall.
Some residents shared their concerns about the beer tent during last Thursday’s Town Board meeting.
Bob DeMallie said he would rather alcohol not be available for Lyndonville’s biggest celebration of the year, when thousands of people come to the village for a parade, music, a craft show and fireworks.
“It’s a family-friendly day and this will create nothing but problems,” DeMallie said about the beer tent.
Another resident, Sandy Lauricella, questioned why have a beer tent when there are businesses nearby that serve alcohol.
The board during a Dec. 28 meeting approved use of a designated space for the beer tent as long as the Lions Club made sure “safe and reasonable operational considerations and measures are taken (i.e., hours of operation, security, responsible alcohol consumption, cleanup).”
Harold Suhr and Sue Hrovat are both Town Board members and on the Lions Club. Suhr said the intent of the beer tent is to have a centralized place for people to have alcohol, rather than where many now are spread out on the festival grounds often with beer and alcohol in coolers.
And with the beer tent, the Lions Club should make some money “to do more things for the community,” Suhr said.
Hrovat said she didn’t want a beer tent, but the club has compromised, moving it away from the original goal of having it near the bus garage to farther away from the main festival grounds at the town parking lot.
The beer tent will be surrounded with a 6-foot-high fence, with one way in and one way out and security. It will be available from 2 to 8 p.m.
Town Supervisor Jim Simon said other community events offer beer tents, including the Kendall Carnival.
“We’ll be definitely watching to see how this goes,” he said about the beer tent debut at the Fourth of July. “There will be some controls.”
