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the beginning.
“The festival came along at a time
when there was a downturn in the
economy,” said Sincock, who credited
Graper with realizing the potential of
this event as not only an economic
engine, but also as fun way for the com-
munity to gather.
“He's the guy that got things moving
and kept them moving along,” Sincock
said.
In 1992, the spectacular faced a cri-
sis. Lorenz decided to step down as
organizer for the event during the same
time Graper's contract with the city
expired. With the festival coming and
its two leaders leaving, a local real
estate developer- along with members
of the Plymouth Community Chamber
of Commerce- stepped in.
“I was asked to help out with raising
money,” said Jim Jabara, who became
more involved with the event after then
chamber president Pam Kosteva
teamed him up with Tom Caviston to
raise the necessary proceeds to keep
the event afloat.
The team was able to generate
$140,000. Lorenz credits Jabara and his
fellow fundraisers for keeping the spec-
tacular alive.
“It was almost lost,” saidLorenz.
Mike Watts headed the festival for
several years during some rough eco-
nomic times. The boardwas at the point
of retiring the event due to the difficult
economy in 2009, when they asked
Signature Professional Group, a pro-
moter and producer of concerts and
event programming to take over.
Walton attempted to make the festi-
val a for-profit venture with Signature
Professional Group at the helm, and the
volunteer Ice Festival board of direc-
tors disbanded last year in light of that
plan. Unfortunately, the for-profit
attempt was less-than-successful, and
the future of the event seemed to be in
question this year.
Wes Graf from the Chamber of
Commerce and Tony Bruscato from the
Downtown Development Authority
approached James Geitzen, president
and owner of JAGEntertainment, about
taking on the event. Geitzen was
already organizing the concerts in
Kellogg Park for the city and had been
involvedwith the festival previously.
Geitzen agreed to take on the job, but
warned everyone that the event would
have to be one that the community
could support and afford.
“We have to be able to pay the bills,”
Geitzen said. “It will be a smaller festi-
val this year, and we are concentrating
more on the ice sculptures. After all,
that's what people really come to see,”
he said.
“It will be a terrific event. People
will enjoy it,” he said.
Plymouth Ice Festival
Page 14
History
from page 11