RUSSELL TOWNSHIP — Council has approved a $2,000 grant for this month’s Autumn in the Country festival after deciding organizers needed an answer before the event was almost upon them.
The Aug. 31 discussion was longer than a routine community-grant item because staff said the festival budget had changed significantly and they were still trying to understand the latest numbers.
Coun. Lisa Deacon urged council not to wait. She called Autumn in the Country a “keystone arts event in our community” run by trusted organizers with a long record of delivering local events.
Deacon said the organizers had been seeking support from several funders and needed to know whether the Township would be a partner before the Sept. 18-20 festival.
“If I was having an event and I needed $2,000 for hot dogs, it would make a huge difference” to know earlier. — Coun. Lisa Deacon
Her point was timing: $2,000 two weeks before an event can solve a real planning problem, while the same money only a few days beforehand may arrive too late to be useful.
Staff was not objecting to the festival itself. Township staff said an “important change” in the budget had arrived and more information was being sought from organizers before a formal recommendation could be completed.
Deacon argued that the paperwork question should not outweigh the Township’s relationship with a long-running volunteer event. She said it draws “a lot of economic benefit, a lot of circulation and tourism in our community.”
Council ultimately approved the $2,000.
Autumn in the Country will also host the Township’s 2026 Photo Expo. This year’s theme is Cultivation, and the selected winners are to become outdoor public art along the New York Central Recreational Trail.
▶ Watch the original council meeting