Spring for Sound canceled: No more merry music for Millerton

MILLERTON — It’s official. Spring for Sound is canceled this year and for the foreseeable future. The announcement was made last week, on Monday, April 9.

The all-day, multi-stage concert was a highlight of village life, and its departure has hit its supporters hard.

“I was a fan — I’m still a fan,” said T-Shirt Farm owner Sal Osnato. “First of all, in my business, I’m a little selfish. People were buying T-shirts. I had a great day the two years that I’ve been here. I also did shirts for the event. I’ve lost that. But everybody who was around loved it, it just brought a lot of people to town, and now that it’s not here, I’m disappointed.”

He’s not the only one. Spring for Sound was organized by the North East Community Center (NECC) for seven years as a fundraiser. It typically raised between $25,000 and $30,000. About 2,000 people attended, from around the Tri-state region. Its organizers, along with NECC leadership, said they were saddened by their decision.

“We realize the disappointment all will feel with this announcement,” stated a joint letter signed by Spring for Sound co-producers Kristen Panzer and Mimi Ramos, NECC Interim Executive Director Jennifer Dowley and NECC Board of Directors Chair Christine Bates. “It was not made lightly.”

Last year, Spring for Sound came under fire for disrupting village life. Complaints of excessive drinking, unruly behavior, fights and even gang activity were made to the Village Board following the event. 

“I was very disappointed with the festival,” Millerton resident Kristen McClune told the board in June of 2017, adding she witnessed several fights break out.

“In a village that’s limited in infrastructure and physical design, it’s like trying to have a block party in Boston,” said Millerton resident DeLora Brooks at that same Village Board meeting. “It just doesn’t work for us.”

“I see underage drinking galore,” wrote Millerton resident Melissa Marcou in a letter to the editor that ran June 29, 2017. “Kids my sons’ ages [15 and 17] wasted out of their minds, carrying open beers. Fights breaking out. People not having enough help.”

The board decided to have Trustee Jennifer Najdek and then-Deputy Mayor Stephen Waite talk with then-NECC Executive Director Jenny Hansell, Panzer and Ramos to see if a better solution could be found. They thought it could.

“I was very surprised to hear organizers and the NECC decided to cancel the event,” said Waite.

“I thought the talks went well,” said Najdek. “They were negotiations, so we kind of tried to hash everything out in those talks rather than at a public meeting. I thought that we had come to an agreement. I know there was some disappointment, but I didn’t think it was anything that prohibited them from running the event.”

But, according to Dowley, the decision to break the event into two, with early concerts and activities held in the village proper and late-night concerts held at Eddie Collins Park, was too much to deal with financially and logistically.

“We got really very far into this,” she said about planning the event this year. “All of the musicians were booked, and I think the closer we got to it, the reality of it being two festivals, with one in the village and one at Eddie Collins, became unrealistic.”

She said splitting the venue and “running two festivals simultaneously, one ticketed and one free … just became unwieldy.”

Najdek said she understood.

“I was surprised to hear about it,” she said, noting she’s sorry for the loss. “I don’t know what the deciding factors were, but hosting the event in the village and at Eddie Collins would be challenging. It’s like hosting two simultaneous festivals. I am disappointed; I enjoyed Spring for Sound. Maybe it’s something they’ll revisit going forward after they take a little time away. I’m not sure, I haven’t heard one way or another.”

Local resident Dan Simmons, who has properties in the village of Millerton, certainly hopes so.

“Because of the amount of new people it brought into the village,” he said. “They would stop me and ask what’s going on. They loved it and would come back year after year. The sidewalks were definitely full of people, whether they were shopping or just visiting.

“I don’t know what politics were involved, what town regulations there were, but certainly it worked well for a long time,” he added. “It’s just a shame that the powers that be couldn’t find a way to continue it.”

The village did typically suspend its open container law, which some said could have contributed to the reports of raucous behavior. This year, said Najdek, that law was going to be re-enforced, lessening the likelihood that people might drink too much and then misbehave. 

Such changes should have helped in managing a festival that size within village limits, said Mayor Debbie Middlebrook, who acknowledged it was difficult.

“But I thought that the concerns had been addressed,” she said. “And I thought a format was in place this year that would have taken care of any issues.”

Like others, Middlebrook said she was “disappointed” when she heard the news of its cancellation. She also said the board realizes it was a “huge undertaking” for NECC.

“We do understand their decision and know this was not a decision that they came to lightly,” she said. “I’m sure they gave it a lot of consideration.”

Middlebrook added she hopes the community center has other ways to fundraise. It does.

Dowley said one of the organization’s biggest fundraisers is just ahead, actually. It’s the Chef & Farmer Brunch, planned this year for July 29, at the Hotchkiss School’s Fairfield Farm.

“That will be very important,” she said on Friday, April 14, before speaking about additional fundraisers. “We literally had an executive committee meeting this morning to talk through the possibilities. Nothing has been planned yet.”

To learn more about NECC and its programs, go to www.neccmillerton.org or call 518-789-4259.

To read a statement from Spring for Sound organizers, go to www.springforsound.com.