After more than 30 years in charge, Vandergrift No. 1 Volunteer Fire Department is passing the torch on its annual carnival.
Local business owner and self-proclaimed carnival lover Sia Fouse is organizing this year’s festivities, which will include rides, concessions, a children’s talent show, live music, craft vendors and a petting zoo.
Fouse, who opened indoor playground and event space The Sia Center along Wallace Street last year, is equal parts excited and daunted by the prospect of putting on one of the borough’s premier events.
“It definitely needs fresh eyes, and I think that it’s worth trying,” Fouse said. “I’m not expecting it to be perfect this year, but hopefully we can build it up to being better next year.”
She’ll have help from best friend and incoming Vandergrift resident, Olivia Hauck, 24, who is handling the bulk of the fundraising.
So far, they’ve secured a couple of sponsors and planned a May 12 fundraiser at the Pizza Hut on Hyde Park Road. They expect to spend $3,000 to $4,000 putting on the carnival, which will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. June 3 to 7 in Kennedy Park.
Any excess revenue from this year’s carnival will be held in a dedicated account and put toward the following year.
Fouse, 26, of Apollo has quickly developed a reputation in Vandergrift as a go-getter. When an Oklahoma Borough family lost just about everything in a November fire, Fouse turned her business into a donation center, collecting thousands of dollars and at least 50 bags of clothes for the family, along with some shoes and nonperishables.
That’s probably why, when discussion of the carnival came up at a recent Vandergrift Business Association event, she seemed like the natural choice.
“Everybody in the room, they didn’t say my name,” Fouse recalled. “They just looked at me.”
She has the full faith of Vandergrift Councilwoman Marilee Kessler, who is assigned to help monitor and coordinate carnival planning as part of the borough’s event policy.
“We need young people to do things, and she’s doing them,” Kessler said.
Vandergrift No. 1 President Michael Reilly believes in Fouse, too.
“I have no doubt she will be able to pull this off,” he said.
Reilly blamed waning manpower for the recent difficulty in putting on the carnival, which generated about $1,500 for the department last year, accounting for revenue sharing with the ride company and the cost of portable toilets.
“It just got to the point where it wasn’t worth it for the fire department, but at the same time I didn’t want to see it leave town,” he said.
About half of the earnings came from the department’s chuck-a-luck wheel, which will still be a part of this year’s carnival. Vandergrift No. 2 also plans to bring its food trailer as a fundraiser.
Fouse is sticking with the same ride operator as years past, Lam Enterprises out of Elizabeth Township.
Vendors, sponsors and volunteers can contact her at 724-561-3569.