Willowick residents share concerns about St. Mary Magdalene festival with city
Jun. 21—At a recent Willowick City Council meeting, Mayor Richard Regovich said the city will need to meet with St. Mary Magdalene Church to assess and discuss the incident that occurred at its annual festival to determine what changes will need to be made if the church decides to move forward with the festival next year.
The News-Herald reached out to the church for comment but did not receive a response immediately.
At the festival, which ran from June 2-5, Willowick Police Department responded to multiple reports of fights breaking out on the evening of June 5. The decision was made to close the festival early, however problems continued with individuals fighting and acting out of control, spilling out into both the business area along Vine Street and residential areas, according to Police Chief Brian C. Turner. Willowick officers did deploy a PepperBall gun to assist in crowd dispersal.
At the Council meeting, Turner addressed concerns about the number of officers working at the festival and stated that in addition to his officers working the festival, he also had officers from Willoughby and Wickliffe there. On June 2, there were seven officers; June 3 there were nine; June 4 there were 10; and June 5 there were eight. When the incident occurred, all on-duty officers from Willowick, Wickliffe, Willoughby, Willoughby Hills, Eastlake and Kirtland were dispatched to the scene to aid in dispersing the crowds.
"The number of officers working the festival should have been more than enough for a church function, however this was an unprecedented incident," Turner said.
Over the entire festival weekend, eight calls to the Willowick Fire Department were made, according to Fire Chief Joe Tennyson.
During the public portion of the meeting, many residents voiced their support for the police response.
Bill Savoca of Willowick suggested that maybe an admission fee should be charged in the future.
Deatra (Jill) Baily of Willowick suggested that the festival could be more of a private event going forward. Jean Bowen, another resident present during the meeting, does not want to see the church stop the festival and suggested possibly requiring an ID before entry. She also requested that East 319 Street be made one-way traffic during the festival.
Parking concerns were also raised. Marissa Beller of Wickliffe isn't sure how feasible it would be to make anyone under the age of 18 be accompanied by an adult, but said it should be something to consider. Dan Shelby of Willowick feels the festival is great for the city and would like to see it continue, however changes will need to be made. He would like to see the church and the safety forces work together to come up with solutions.
In response, Council President Robert Patton stated that the parish will have to decide how it wants to proceed. Once that is determined, then ideas can be taken to the Safety Committee for review.
"The incident that occurred has nothing to do with what somebody looks like, where they are from or how they got there," Patton said. "They only consideration is how people behave when they are in the city."
Regovich added that several residences in the area took kids in for safety. He commended all of the residents as well as CP's Cooler staff for coming together and helping people.
Turner stated that the department will be taking a deliberate and methodical approach to different options should the church move forward with the festival next year.
