Last week, a follow up meeting to December’s unprecedented pow-pow that brought together Falls Church restaurant owners with City government officials in reaction to the late-coming word the City would not be closing the 100 block of W. Broad St. for a New Year’s Eve “Watch Night” event was held, as reported in last week’s News-Press.
The purpose of the follow up was to brainstorm on ways to attract more outside folks to visit the Little City, and including to dine at its growing roster of restaurants. The concern, clearly, is that, with the regional economy in trouble, a loss of business is hurting our local businesses and resulting in declining tax revenues to the City.
The meeting last week was energetic, especially coming from the restaurant owners’ side. A list of possible inflection points around which special events could be built to attract outside dollars into the City was drawn on a wall slate board. It was noted that, in fact, the City has lost some big events in recent years, in addition to the major downsizing of Watch Night with the decision not to close the street, including the loss of its usual Fourth of July fireworks show that used to include a lively police dog demonstration and the annual Tinner Hill Blues Festival that peaked only a couple years ago when there was a huge turnout at Cherry Hill Park.
It was also noted that some of the existing events have persisted as echoes of a Falls Church of the past, when it was more a sleepy southern village, instead of the vibrant urban scene it is becoming today. The fall festival was known as the Harvest Moon festival, and there still are farm days and Civil War reenactment days when, even only a few years ago, Confederate soldiers were given more equivalency with Union ones and a reenactor of Robert E. Lee was featured. Now, the City’s needs cry out for more up-to-date, popular themes in its public events. Even the annual Memorial Day Parade and Festival, the most popular of the Little City’s public celebrations, hasn’t evolved in decades.
The biggest issue is the need for the City government to step up and make sure events are built, publicized and pulled off. This requires an investment of resources the City has been unwilling to provide, to date at least. In past cases, the City enjoyed the benefit of some extraordinary citizens to make good things happen.
But that level of remarkable volunteer commitment cannot be counted on, nor can hard working business owners be expected to step away from their daily efforts to take on large organizing events. As taxpayers benefit from the new revenue that comes into the City with effective public events and celebrations, more of their dollars should be used to make sure such events happen and grow.