Founders' Days is a celebration of community. The roots of the festival are planted deeply in the gathering of residents who call the Village of Algonquin home to celebrate our founding and the beauty of our community. Downtown has been a central location for all residents to gather, remember, and commemorate Algonquin's history. The various activities of Founders' Days are what unite the community and brings life to Algonquin and commemorate our heritage. The traditional Sunday closing Fireworks hold a unique place in the hearts of the people of our Village. Residents have enjoyed the show from both land and water for years. They have gathered in restaurants, boats, residences, parks, as well as countless other public spaces to enjoy the beautiful display. The Fox River is not only a central location but a safe location. The water provides a sound environment for the display. The currently-planned removal of the fireworks from downtown Algonquin will cause anguish to our community; residents and businesses will suffer. The residential area surrounding Algonquin Lakes Park would be a foolish place to attempt a firework display, not only because of the far removal from central (historical) Algonquin, but more importantly, due to safety. Residents already have voiced negative feelings toward moving the festival from Towne Park to Algonquin Lakes Park. Forcing them to migrate to the east side of the Village is not going to garner desired results. In fact, many people will likely flock elsewhere and boycott the Festival if the Fireworks are relocated. The potential traffic, fire hazards, and noise, amongst other issues, will annoy residents in the Algonquin Lakes neighborhood. The Founders' Days Board will be ill-advised to attempt to remove yet another piece of the Founders' Days activities when the fest is already observing negative responses in recent times from the community in which it is supposed to serve. It would appear that the Board has lost its true perspective of helping to unite a community and instead found a need for profit to dictate its decision making process. The board meetings have had little community input and instead of attempting to seek new sources of income with additional offerings, the Board has decided to scale, limit, and cut from a once hugely successful festival. It is with all the best intents that this will help open the eyes of the Board of Directors and keep this one piece of Founders' untouched.