Steve Presser, owner of Big Fun, and President of the Coventry Special Interest District. (SID)
I had a chance to call Steve yesterday, I have had the pleasure of calling him a friend since
the first days of Big Fun. And asked, what is the deal. "Jim, the problem is a few people set
on ruining it for everyone." He went on to explain about the " St. Gregory the Great Festival
in South Euclid" incident. That a few people on Twitter we covering the reports of the festival
while tweeting those plans and their plans out to other to come and cause a "flash mob."
Now "flash mobs" can be cool and groovey, not really. And some can be pretty bad. Steve
had a moment a couple years ago where gangs from Detroit were coming into Cleveland, and
run through a star like locusts.
The St. Gregory the Great Festival in South Euclid tweets were more about grabbing, and
fighting, and eventually fights broke out, and arrests made, though many more got away.
This has been a growing problem on the east side for years now, and with social media,
it has become a larger problem, to the present level where a few threats can shut down
an event.
Deana Bremer Fischer, Director of Future Heights, and publisher of The Heights Observer
told me yesterday, "It is crazy, they went out of their way to rebuild the Coventry Street
Festival as a family friendly event after issues in the past. It just didn't matter."
Steve had mentioned that for those that do not remember, the event was a victim of
similar action 4 years ago with a Flash Mob running through the Festival and stores,
grabbing everything and anything that was not nailed down. So they skipped a year,
and came back as the Coventry Family Art Festival.
"Jim, this is crazy, we have re-crafted this to appeal to families, we have re-branded the
event, which is sad, as the Coventry Street Festival dates back to the early days of the
Hessler Street Fair, and when Coventry was the center of the Hippie World in Northeast Ohio.
To think all of that can be whipped out existence by a few."
He had gone on to say, that they had scaled back, no longer shut down the street, and
had arraigned for more police. However it was decided that the police could not guarantee
the safety of the event, and that Twitter traffic was high about "getting ready" so the police
asked firmly for Coventry SID to reconsider, and they shelved it.
Now a case can be made for the bad guys winning. But as Steve recounted the "Flash Mobs"
he had encountered in the past, he could not see how another occurrence would be good
for anyone, especially the businesses and district he represents.
So there it is.
Thomas Mulready (Cool Cleveland), Denis DeVito (Cats on Holiday, City of Lakewood), and
Steve Presser enjoy an O'Bryan Burger at the WestEnd Tavern.
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