CINCINNATI — From meat raffles to themed tattoos, one Cincinnati neighborhood is finding unique ways to raise funds as a months-long question remains unanswered: can Northside stick to history or will the neighborhood be forced to reroute it?
The Fourth of July Parade has historically spanned 1.5 miles down Hamilton Avenue, but changes in city policy could cut the length by half if organizers are unable to secure the number of police officers to work detail for the event.
"The cost of detail has gone up. The cost of the permit has gone up. The cost of public services has gone up," parade co-chair Becky Finnigan said.
We first spoke with Finnigan in May when she said the city had lowered its request of 32 officers down to 21. Now, she and her co-chair have been able to negotiate that number down to 16.
With less than a month until parade day, only three officers have signed up.
Finnigan said that's the main factor keeping the city from giving the green light and allowing organizers to keep the traditional route.
"That's what we're still waiting on. We had set that internal deadline of June 6 but that has passed and we still haven't heard," she said. "And we're unable to tell the neighborhood and the entries that we definitely have the route that we've always had."
Finnigan said they've been able to meet the rest of the city's requirements. With fewer police officers staffing the event, there will need to be at least 40 community volunteers to post up at barricades along the route.
Finnigan said more than 70 people have already signed up.
The committee has also received almost $12,000 from community donations. That money will go a long way to pay for the higher operating costs, Finnigan said.
While she and her co-chair have reached out to Northside businesses, she said in most cases, it's the other way around.
Last week, Binski's Bar in Camp Washington held a meat raffle with proceeds benefiting the parade fund. Northside bar Higher Gravity is holding a Happy Hour on June 29, donating portions of the proceeds to the parade fund.
Tilly's netted $2,000 for the parade at a recent fundraiser and the bar is planning another event on July 1.
"The cost of the parade this year has tripled, essentially," she said. "So, the fact that businesses and community members are proactively reaching out to us to ask how they can help — it just means, means the world."
Another Northside business has also inked up a creative way to raise funds.
Wisteria Piercing and Tattoo, which, like Tillie's and Higher Gravity, sits along the parade route and is offering Northside-themed tattoos throughout the rest of the month of June.
The tattoos range from $100-$200, with 20% of the proceeds benefiting the parade.
"The parade is something that actually attracted my wife and I to Northside before we lived here, just how community-involved it is here, everyone has just huge love and support for each other and seeing something like that be threatened like taken away is pretty heartbreaking," Wiseria co-owner Brandon Durbin said.
He thought up the idea for the quirky designs Wednesday. They include takes on the Tickle Pickle restaurant, the Cincinnati chimichanga, the "Fish Logs" sign at the Old Timber Inn and one that reads "Keep Northside Weird" on a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer logo.
"Just the perfect little mashup, you know?" Durbin said. "Nobody loves Northside who doesn't love PBR."
Durbin said he got three appointments within the first 24 hours of sharing the designs on social media. He's also received a wave of suggestions and said he'll soon be offering temporary tattoo versions as well as stickers.
"It'll be nice to contribute as little bit as I can and a lot of the other places have chipped in too," Durbin said. "So, I felt like it was us just doing our due diligence to keep Northside the way we want it."
We reached out to the city back in May and again on Thursday for an updated comment on where the parade stands.
A spokesperson wrote back saying the city continues to work collaboratively with event organizers to ensure a safe environment for everyone involved.
"CPD is using other resources including barricades to allow for fewer officers to work the detail. As with any detail, it is open for officers to sign up, but officers are not required to staff special events. The parade permit fee is $500 as organizers anticipate more than 3,000 people in attendance. For events smaller than that, the fee is $100," the spokesperson wrote. "As previously mentioned, last year on-duty officers were permitted to staff special events. That policy has changed. The permit continues to go through the normal review process."
Finnigan said they need to raise about $1,000 more before they can feel comfortable covering all of the new costs. That would bring their fund high enough to pay all 16 detail officers if they sign up.
"We're moving forward optimistically because we really can't delay the planning any further," said Finnigan. "The one thing we really need the neighborhood to understand is that these costs aren't going to go down after this year, so this is the new normal for the parade and we are going to need to kind of rethink how we pay for this parade going forward."
