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true true true true

Morals of America Asks Spencer Town Council To Keep Pride Fest Out Of Downtown Spencer

Morals of America Logo - CROPPED

In the letter, MoA calls the Town Council’s decision to work with Spencer Pride “highly irresponsible.” (Morals of America/Facebook)

The anonymous Facebook group Morals of America is asking the Spencer Town Council to move the Spencer Pride Fest out of downtown Spencer.

MoA is the Facebook group behind the controversial form letters that started the Owen County festival saga, after the county’s Board of Commissioners tried to pass them off as a petition from taxpayers complaining about festival costs.

Spencer Pride’s annual festival will not be on the Owen County courthouse grounds for the first time in 13 years because of the commissioners’ new ordinance that prohibits anyone from using the courthouse for a special event. Since this year’s festival won’t be on county property, Spencer Pride is working with the Town of Spencer to close off streets.

In the letter, MoA calls the Town Council’s decision to work with Spencer Pride “highly irresponsible” because street closures “will impede local customers from being able to safely reach certain shops therefore making those shops lose business for the day putting them at a monetary loss.”

Local business owners like Jaime Sweany and Denise Sudol – owners of the Juniper and Dragonfly art galleries, respectively – say Spencer’s festivals are crucial to their bottom lines.

MoA’s letter asks the Town Council to relegate the Pride Fest to Cooper Commons Park or the Owen County Fairgrounds, but Sudol said in November that when the Apple Butter Festival moved to the Owen County Fairgrounds, her revenue that month dropped to half of what it was the year before.

Morals of America’s Facebook post reads as follows:

Morals of America's open letter to the Spencer Town Council
Morals of America's open letter to the Spencer Town Council (Morals of America/Facebook)

Spencer Pride President Jonathan Balash says he has met with 17 businesses that would be affected by the proposed street closures and solicited feedback from them. According to Balash, only one business had any issues with the plan and that was because they felt it would disrupt access, but the sides worked out a compromise to reserve parking for the business.

“They were very supportive of the plan,” Balash says. “Matter of fact, many of them asked us to ask for even more street closures. They wanted to see all four streets closed on the downtown square, not just three of them. They offered to open up their restrooms for festival attendees. They offered to extend their hours during the festival so they could take advantage of the additional customers in town.”

Morals of America denied requests for a phone interview, citing concerns of possible “persecution.” When asked for a copy of the festival sponsorship packets described in the letter, MoA’s anonymous administrator said they did not have one and were “going off of past shop owners words.”

Balash says he hopes Spencer Pride will not have any trouble getting full approval for the June festival and looks forward to the Spencer Town Council’s next meeting on Monday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m.

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