All buses will start at the southeast corner of Fourth and Calhoun streets.
Two buses will proceed onCalhoun StreettoPutnam Streetand down toWater Street. They will return via Brewery Hill (Pike Street), Main Street and Calhoun Street to Fourth and Calhoun.
A family bus with wheelchair access will travel down West Street, Center Streetand Plain Street to the family area at Maze Lumber, and will return the same way.
The buses are provided by Illinois Central School Bus, Peru CSO and sponsors.
Stephanie Piscia FOIA/OMA Compliance Officer City of Peru
46 comments:
Thank you. Been waiting for this info for years.
It's a shame that we have to FOIA the info or that Stephanie (a very busy worker) had to provide this information. How come other towns know how to handle these situations?
Is there pickle ball on water street tonight?
I think there should be a demonstration with the extra net that hasn't been put up, the 5 th net the city purchased.
By the way it smells down on Water Street. Don't know if it is the dry weather causing the low water and dead fish or what. Smoke was rising, so must be cooking something in the alcohol free area, I mean beside tempers in this heat.
Peru city fireworks are over and the ban on private fireworks on account of dryness is not being paid attention to. No one will be arrested for breaking the law for setting off fireworks. Reason being fireworks don't have turn signals.
Why would the city allow families to sit along the working tracks? A train went through while people and cars were parked only feet from the moving train?
I thought there was a family area? We couldn't find it.
2 jumpies were at Maze and adults still had alcoholl in the alcohol no zone. There was no where for us to lay a blanket in that area because of cars parked in the grass!!!!
To City of Peru, We tried it, and will not do it next year. Some area that was given for my family. No Thanks!!
To find an assessable porta stall we had to venture to the beer garden where we found 15 of them. On the way back we had to steer clear of a fight the police broke up.
It's clear the drunk fest continues and families aren't welcomed. If we want close up Fireworks we will go elsewhere like Utica.
@ 10:57 You must be one of the people that will Bitch about anything. How are the police going to do anything about private fireworks when they are babysitting everybody on waterstreet? Do you know how busy the police must have been lastnight! Give it a rest. Did you make a phone call to report the illegal fireworks? If you didn't (which I'm sure you didn't) then you didn't do anything to help the sistuation. The police can't right a report on account of you Bitching on this blog!
It was a joke!!! I told an officer people were pulling beers from coolers and drinking in the so- called family non alcohol section. The officer told me they were allowed to drink there, they just couldn't walk around with it. What a crock of Crap!!
The train scared the heck out of me. It went through during the middle of the show. Several of us looked up when we heard the train and said oh shit!! We thought people were gonna get smashed.
Is it worth all this complaining for exactly 19 minutes of fireworks? I sat in my home and watched the clock, when it started and when it stopped. The city paid more than a $1000.00 a minute. Thats just plain stupid.
Here ya go. If your to stupid to be that close to the railroad tracks, then you deserve to get hit by a train. There was a ton of room for your family to lay down a blanket and watch. Unless you have 20 people in your family. If the city didn't spend the 20 grand then people would really be pissed. I think the people that had a great time and like the fireworks outway you people who didn't. And guess what. The city officials know that. There were portapotties at both ends of waterstreet. Like there always is. Heres an idea. Stay home next year. People go down there to have fun. Not to listen to people like you piss and moan!
There has been a train passing through for the past three years. No surprise there.
11:33--- the waterstreet celebration is clearly a CSO event. Until the CSO pays for the fire works, PD, and all other costs of that event then we will quit crying. Until then, it's my money that is going up in smoke. What do the city tax payer's get in return? 300 small flags, and 40 volunteers cleaning ditches 2 times per year? Come on!!!
Portapoddies--- don't tell me 20 porta's were enough for thousands of people. 2 at each end of waterstreet the rest at the beergarden. Joke!!!!! The city of Peru should be in charge of that event not the CSO.
9:22 AM Because the city is having a special event does not give a police force the excuse not to enforce other laws.
We'll get the answers to what really took place in the non alc. Family spot. Alderwoman Mayzak posted a few weeks ago she would be there to help enforce any BS that took place there. So we should wait her response. I doubt any other alderman was there to monitor that area.
12:16 PM
You are right and sometimes it feels like the residents are being held hostage to them.
The should definitely be a city sponsored event with all that goes with claiming that. Even yesterday the lack of proper information about the busing to Water Street put the light on how poorly the oversight is on this event.
Events cannot be handled by pieces of the puzzle that are never put together. There needs to be someone in charge who delegates responsibilities and oversees and makes sure everything is going as planned.
Who coordinates over the CSO and the Recreation Director?
The director of the CSO and recreation of Peru- Bob Ankeiwicz, and administrator DiCarlo.
Without this team of hard workers nothing would get done for this great event. They spend many hours organizing this.
@12:16 MOVE OUT OF PERU THEN AND QUIT BITCHING. ITS MY MONEY TOO AND I LIKE THE FIREWORKS!!!!!! OBIOUSLY SO DO 90% OF THE OTHER PEOPLE OTHERWISE THEY WOULDNT BE THERE. MOVE TO LASALLE AND THEN COME TO PERU ON THE 4TH TO WATCH THEM. THEN YOU CAN LOOK LIKE AS BIG OF AN IDIOT AS YOU SOUND LIKE!!!!
6:19 PM
I don't believe people were happy with the family zone, so not everyone was happy. Was the CSO also in that area perhaps selling lemonade to the kids?
Or perhaps some other vendors selling drinks of some sort?
Anon 6:44 You must be having a bad bad day. Sit down and take a deep breath and call Helping Hand. Don't give up help is available and things will get better for you.
You tell us Lois. Weren't you down there stalking the situation? So tell us about all the unhappy people. Clearly the blogger at 6:44 likes the fireworks. It sounds like he/she is just mad because it seems like nothing the city does ever makes the people on this blog happy. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for these people to just stay home if they don't like it. The city has been doing the fireworks for many many years and it always draws a nice crowd. Why would the city stop doing that now? Also the Peru CSO does alot more for the city than most people know about. Who puts up all of the Christmas decorations every year? Who purchased all of them? Who purchases all of the flags for the town? Just a few of the many things the CSO does for the city. Its the fourth of July and this is how Peru has done it for years. Deal with it or stay home.
9:30 PM
At one time the city of Peru put on a wonderful July 4 celebration but that is just a pleasant memory for many in this town.
I think you are rude as I have said nothing that that type of reply was needed. Other people have expressed their opinion and not everyone has to think that the CSO beer gardens are the greatest thing since popcorn.
I stand by what I said that this was not the greatest organized event and whoever wants can credit for that.
And the dead fish did not help the event either.
And while I am commenting who was responsible for setting up signs indicating No Alcohol so that the people who came and parked early with their coolers of alcohol would know that they should not park there in what the city had called an alcohol free zone family friendly aea. This was a very important miscue because in effect there was no alcohol free zone.
And then according to the N.T. they were allowed to stay in the no alcohol zone.
I was there and consider to be a professional people watcher. More than half of the people were teenagers. These teens could care less about the fireworks. It's simply a place to gather and something to do. They could care less if the fireworks were 10 minutes at 25,000.00
I sat there and watched underage kids pouring vodka into a McDonalds glass. While another poured some into her Gatorade bottle, then walking around they went. I thought about telling the cops but figured I wasn't there to babysit. I saw several teens drinking Gatorade and wondered if theirs were spiked also. This celebration has changed over the past 20 years. It remains to be aimed to please teens and drunks. The other 15% like myself and the group I go with just go to watch the craziness then top it off with a nice fireworks show. Food for thought--- families don't do things together anymore in areas like that. They stay home with friends and family to watch the show. It's NOT family friendly on waterstreet.
ALL A WASTE OF MONEY! PERU WILL NEVER GET AHEAD BECAUSE ALL PEOPLE THINK ABOUT IS PLAY-PLAY-PLAY. FIREWORKS-SWIMMING POOLS-PICKLEBALL-TENNIS-BASEBALL DIAMONDS-SKATING RINGS-HOCKEY-PARKS-----ALL REAL MONEYMAKERS!!
5:31 AM
I do believe your observations are correct and you sure do have some grit do go down to Water St. on July 4. The reasons you stated are some of the reasons I and many older adults don't go and although some people get angry when I say this, there are 2 many other places to see fireworks in a friendly location, so why fight it.
If you don't want to go to Water St., Utica, Hennepin, Spring Valley, Ottawa and Princeton had fireworks and others things to do or you could have gone to the La Salle Speedway Saturday or watched fireworks in D.C. on channel 11 along with a very entertaining musical program in you a/c.
Or you can wait and La Salle will have some in October at their Jazz on First event.
Too many in Peru government don't seem to be aware that it is a problem. And that will cause them to tell me I should move because I don't support what Peru does 100%.
Lois, How can you say that you show any support for the city that you live in? You started this blog, which has consistently degraded everything the city does and the people who work for it. Doing what your doing doesn't make you a good person. You call me rude. Am I rude because I don't agree with you or half the comments on this blog? I would say that you are fueled by the negative comments on here because that's what you want to hear. Call me rude but I support Peru. If I didn't, I wouldn't live here. Instead of sitting at your keyboard and adding fuel to the very small fire that you have, why don't you go out and show some support.
10:22 AM
I sign my name to my posts and that is more than I can say for you. It is easy to hide behind anonymous and be demeaning, isn't it?
@1:12 PM. Sorry but I only briefly made it down to the fireworks. My daughter and her boyfriend, who has been in Afghanistan for the past 6 months, came to Peru unexpectedly on Tuesday afternoon and left Wednesday morning. I went down and saw the no alcohol zone and saw 2 people (police or ESDA?) standing at the entrance to the non-alcohol area. It was extremely hot and smelly, obviously things that can't be controlled. I hope everybody had a good time.
To those who were watching fireworks on the traintracks. What is wrong with you? To those who thought that going to fireworks without others drinking alcohol. What world do you live in? Go to Ottawa, Hennepin, Princeton, Spring Valley its the same cans! Dead fish on the river? Yes, it happens and if you have temperatures of 100 degrees it will happen. Maybe those organizing the fireworks could place ice in the river to cool the water? And while they are doing that they can raise your children not to put vodka in their McDonalds cups. And those who complain about cost. Did you know that Ottawa got 10 minutes of fireworks?
11:26 AM
Ottawa city did not pay for their fireworks, they collect donations and maybe they only had enough money for 10 minutes or perhaps they were concerned about the weather, I don't know.
Peru should have enough donations for next year's fireworks. Reports say the 50/50 raised at least $9000.00.
2:11 Already the rumors are flying. First of all I'm pretty sure the 50/50 did not raise $9000 and secondly, the fireworks cost us in the vicinity of $20,000. Do you understand that in order to raise that amount of money you would have had to sell $18,000 worth of tickets?
That's the idea of the 50/50.
Ottawa had 10 minutes of fireworks due to a malfunction and the company is going to have another firework display for everyone to enjoy. Don't be an idiot. I assume if you are smart enough to read and type on this blog you have read the story on Facebook or other places on the internet.
11:26 am
I know Hennepin had beer gardens as does Ottawa but are sure that Spring Valley which has their fireworks at Hall H.S. Field is selling alcohol there? Doesn't sound logical.
Utica did not have a beergarden and Ottawa has a riverfest, and, is separate from the 4th celebration. There is no beergarden at Ottawa's Fireworks.
I hope someone from Spring Valley can update what goes on at their fireworks beside fireworks.
Lois- maybe someday there will be a utopia where fireworks can happen and there not be a complaint. A place where dead fish smell like rose petals and the temp is a bearable 83 degrees and the family zone will be guarded by the Illinois National Guard.
But you will probably find something wrong with that too. (the fireworks caused smoke, the band played music, the water you drank was not the right temperature.
Thank you Peru and the CSO for putting on a good event!
Wow Lois, It looks like people are starting to catch on too you. Maybe thats why its getting harder and harder for you too get info. Cause your making alot of people mad!
11:54 Really? Harder for Lois to get information? That's why there are laws enforced.Example- FOIA compliance. Ask the city of Peru what happens when they don't comply.It doesn't matter how mad they get at Lois..If they dont cough up the information (comply) the city and FOIA person in charge can get seriously fined. Springfield doesn't mess around with governmental entities when it comes to this.
Great Job Lois! Keep doing what you are doing. Only the wrong get upset.
Great job Lois getting info from the city!
In my experience governmental officials get mad when something they do not want to be brought into the light is going to be exposed. Simple whining usually just gets laughed at. If you are a concerned citizen, you should not worry when someone like Lois voices opposition. But you should be terrified if nobody does.
I believe the FOIA officer in Peru is quite competent and receives the required annual training, so the Public Access Counselor will not be filing suit against Peru anytime soon. And Lois will keep receiving her info as requested, blog or not.
The FOIA officer can only provide the documents she is provided with upon a request; if the City Clerk DOES NOT maintain accurate records at the City building and the FOIA officer is not provided the documents from the outside contractor that is a major internal problem.
An one of my favorite phrases "shit runs down hill" and unfortunately regardless of how competent or trained the FOIA officer may be; if the "forces that be" don't want documents to surface or agendas to be posted they simply won't be.
Kristy
That certainly is a much more serious situation if it is true. It is hard to cover both ends of communication though. If a citizen suspects that is occurring in inter department communication that is difficult to prove, but when the city communicates externally with other agencies you can simply request information under FOIA from that government body. The PAC officer deals with situations like that all the time. Occasional misplaced documents are one thing, but a pattern would be hard to hide. I hope that is not the situation.
Yes it is a serious situation if the evidence is true. What is worse for transperancy incompetence or abuse? Are they equally detrimental or both required to mask what or who is behind the "screen"?
Kristy
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