Waterball cancelled; fireworks still planned

The Strassenfest Committee has had to make some decisions relative to a few of the 2012 Strassenfest features due to weather conditions.

According to Strassenfest Committee Chairperson Meredith Voegerl the Waterball competitions for children and adults will not be held this year. Voegerl said the decision was made by Jasper Fire Chief Kenny Hochgesang. “He and his crew had made the decision to cancel the waterball – both the children’s and adult’s waterball events for this year in light of the fact of our water conservation that has been mandated for the City of Jasper,” she said.

Voegerl says that there might be a replacement activity planned by the Fire Department, but that has yet to be determined. “I know they did talk about that,” Voegerl said. “The truth is, the way Kenny is, he’s very responsible, so he, I know, is considering our city before anything else when he made that decision.”

Voegerl also stated the fireworks previously planned for the Fourth of July do not have any definitive date in the near future.

“We had met with City leaders again, and we all decided as a group that it wouldn’t be in our best interest to have the fireworks near the ‘fest, it’s just still too dry to do so.”

Any announcement in the alternative date for the fireworks display will be made public as soon as it is decided.

Fireworks were a new event this year but waterball has been an annual competition at the Strassenfest for over twenty years. Fire departments spray high pressure water at a ball suspended on a line attempting to move it to the opposing teams side. A children’s version is played on the street. The event uses between 25,000 and 30,000 gallons of water every year.