Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 13, 1992 TAG: 9203130093
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Local government and businesses have rallied to support the third edition of the Games, which were jeopardized in January when the VAS board of directors cited financial shortfalls and fired Fonder, the VAS founder and the Games' creator. The Games were left with one paid staff person.
The board rejected Fonder's proposed budget in January and made its own, which did not include what it considered speculative money - overdue pledges and uncommitted donors.
The speculative money now is tangible, and VAS will announce today that it will receive:
$30,000 from the City of Roanoke;
$25,000 - a Gold Medal sponsorship - from Mobil Oil;
$10,000 from Coca-Cola;
$50,000 from the state government because of approval of a tourism bill that included an appropriation for VAS tacked on by Del. Dick Cranwell, D-Vinton.
VAS also hopes to secure a $15,000 contribution from Salem, which the VAS board had approached in recent weeks.
"They were very positive," VAS treasurer David Snyder said Wednesday.
Ken King, chairman of the VAS board, said Gina Dunnavant will be the full-time Games director. Snyder said Dunnavant's pay has been boosted. King said a full-time, paid assistant Games director and full-time, paid staff administrator will be hired. Snyder said those two will remain with VAS only through the summer.
Local government has pitched in with manpower as well as money. King said Roanoke County plans to lend a full-time employee to assist with Games-related functions, and said the Games' opening ceremonies will be run by Roanoke's director of special events, Laban Johnson.
King is trying to put together a group of business representatives to help VAS coordinate volunteers and what he called "small" corporate donations. The head of that group could be announced today, King said.
In January, King said VAS planned to put on the 1992 Games with an all-volunteer staff. The recent contributions have enabled VAS not only to begin hiring a staff but to begin such necessities as printing athlete applications, a task that had been put on hold.
Shortly after he was let go, Fonder expressed certainty that the sponsors he had courted - public and private - would come through. His proposed budget included the expected donations as well as cutbacks in spending (including his salary), and he maintained the Games would be financially stable through the summer.
Snyder said the board was worried it wouldn't get the Roanoke and Mobil money until after the 1992 Games, too late to help with necessary pre-paid expenses. Even with the recent influx of donations, Snyder said, the '92 Games will operate with budget cutbacks.
King was asked if he thought VAS now was cashing in on the work done by Fonder.
"I don't see it that way," King said. "Nobody's cashing in on anything. We're still down more than $150,000. We're not in a position to hire an executive director.
"[But] it appears we have firm commitments to make the Games a financial success."
King said VAS expects to have $25,000 left over after running the Games June 24-30.
by CNB