4th of July Event Organizers Face Backlash After Religious Band Featured
Some vendors left during the two-hour prayer-filled performance at Walla Walla Point Park, and members of the public question why the band was featured at a publicly-funded event
Organizers of the Wenatchee Valley 4th of July event are facing backlash after a band called Trampolines took to the stage for a lengthy religious performance at the publicly-funded event in Wenatchee on July 4.
At one point during the two-hour praise and worship performance at Walla Walla Point Park, a member of the self-described “musicianary” group danced across the stage waving a Christian flag. The band led Christian prayers from the stage and more than once the lead singers promoted their concert at Awaken Church the following night.
According to the band’s website, they are “an explosive electronic band propelled by missional purpose” led by husband and wife duo Lane and Cary Terzieff.
“Trampolines’ high-energy music has a divinely inspired twist: 100% of the bands’ proceeds fuel their missions,” they write on their website.
One out-of-town visitor called the performance, which included Cary’s personal testimony about finding Jesus after battling drug and alcohol addiction, “bizarre.”
Some vendors packed up and left.
One was the Wenatchee Insurance Agency. Matt McColm, a spokesperson for that business is also a veteran and said he was disappointed with the focus on religious proselytizing rather than a celebration of our nation.
“A public event is just that: public. If they wanted to host a private religious event then it needs to be advertised as such and no tax dollars spent on it. I was excited to see the old-school keytar and disappointed in the content,” he wrote. “Yes, we packed up and left early once the content moved from celebration to postulation. As a veteran, I was hoping for a more patriotic event.”
Another vendor that left was Wenatchi Wear, owned by Mary Big Bull Lewis. She took issue not only with the religious concert but also with the marketing of the event prior to Independence Day.
“This was a public event - proper marketing should have been done in order to educate about the event. Public funds should never be spent on religious events, and if they are it needs to be clearly stated so that the public can make an educated decision to attend and/or support,” she wrote in an email.
She said that after she heard Trampolines first song, she went to the Wenatchee 4th of July celebration website to see if she missed something.
“I was trying to understand why they were performing,” she wrote. “Vendors left the poorly attended event after a song or two from the Trampolines.”
Funding for the Wenatchee Valley 4th of July event comes from the cities of Wenatchee and East Wenatchee, as well as corporate business sponsors and individual donors.
According to Laura Gloria, the City of Wenatchee’s executive services director, Wenatchee provides $30,000 for the fireworks.
“The City of Wenatchee contributes $30k to directly fund the fireworks component. The event is hosted by the Independence Day Committee which is led by the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce and Kelley Kennedy/Impact Events is hired as the event coordinator,” Gloria wrote in an email.
Steve Wilkinson, executive director of the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce, clarified that the event is planned by an event planning company and that his organization receives no taxpayer dollars for the event.
“The 4th of July event is organized and planned by an event planning company that has a contract with the City of Wenatchee,” he wrote in an email. “The Chamber does not receive any funds from neither the City of East Wenatchee nor the City of Wenatchee for the 4th of July event.”
East Wenatchee Mayor Jerrilea Crawford said the city of East Wenatchee kicks in $15,000 for the fireworks and called the religious performance at this year’s event “inappropriate.”
“It would be one thing if this was a private event on private property,” she said. “But this is a publicly-funded event on public property.”
According to Gloria, the total annual cost of the event is about $95,000.
It is still unclear if the band was paid for their performance. I reached out to Kelley Kennedy with these questions:
“Hi Kelley,
I have a few questions about the 4th of July event. How does the Chamber of Commerce fit into the funding/planning process of the event? Does the Chamber provide any insight or oversight to the planning of this annual event, or just meeting space for your team?
Were the Trampolines or any other "musicianaries" paid for their performance? If so, how much?
Are you/Impact Events planning on organizing future 4th of July events for the cities of Wenatchee and East Wenatchee?
Have you received any feedback or criticism for the praise and worship concert put on by the "musicianaries" at the park on the 4th of July?
How did you get the contract to plan and organize this event? Was there an RFP put out that you responded to?
Thanks!”
I will update this piece if Kennedy responds.
Fortunately, Gloria with the City of Wenatchee provided transparent information about how Impact Events got the contract.
“There was no formal RFP process, the Committee was setup in 2015 when the City of Wenatchee stopped hosting the event due to budget and capacity issues; the City’s Parks Department used to operate and manage the event,” she wrote. “The Committee stepped up to continue to move forward with the event and fundraises throughout the year to make up the remainder of the funds totaling approximately $95,000.”
She was also able to provide clarity about Impact Events organizing future 4th of July celebrations for the cities.
“This is Kelley’s last year organizing the event,” Gloria wrote.
Update, as of July 13
Kelley Kennedy got back to me and explained more about how the organization and funding for the event work.
“The Chamber isn’t involved in the Independence Day Celebration at Walla Walla Park. They are kind enough to let us store some supplies in their storage area but that is the extent of their involvement. Performers are paid…it’s a challenge to find people willing to play on the fourth and we keep it local as much as possible. This is my 9th and final year planning the event. I’ve been trying to find someone to take it over for a few years with no luck. I am not sure what the event will look like next year. It could just be fireworks and nothing else.
As far as feedback on the performers, we received both positive and negative feedback which is typical for the event. I started doing the event in 2015 after there was no event in 2014. The cities of E. Wenatchee and Wenatchee contribute funds from hotel taxes toward the fireworks and I raise funds mostly through corporate sponsorships to pay for the rest of the event. Our sponsors enjoyed the event.”
Trampolines also responded to this piece with an Instagram video.
According to Trampolines on Instagram, they were paid $1,500 for the performance.
The Wenatchee World also picked up this story and wrote that Kennedy said the event “has always had a Christian band at the show.”
While argumentum ad antiquitatem, or the “appeal to tradition” argument doesn’t justify what many would feel is inappropriate regardless of how many years it’s been going on I have personally volunteered at this Independence Day event for the last four years (at least) and do not recall a live Christian band playing praise and worship music at this event. I do recall canned Christian music being played over the PA prior to the live bands taking the stage in the evening.
I will reach out to Kennedy for clarification on this point, because it’s possible that I am mistaken and did not hear these bands because I was so busy with other tasks in past years.
I understand sponsors included Awaken Church, GCC members and/or affiliated business(es). Weren't they among those who protested Drag Queen Story Hour at Pybus because they might have to unwillingly see and hear it? Religious privilege is prevalent in our valley.
Who is on "the Committee"?