Livonia Keeps the Spree Safe

Livonia — Now in its 54th year, the Livonia Spree endures as the pre-eminent summer kickoff event for western Wayne County, but behind the scenes is a Herculean effort to save the Spree from itself.

Its overwhelming success and growth are both a welcome sight for local businesses, but also a problem requiring aggressive management, extra policing, and additional volunteers. If not managed correctly, Livonia could lose the Spree, much like other cities in Metro Detroit have lost their summer festivals.

The Spree is a weeklong exercise in nostalgia for most Livonians of a certain age; a reunion for friends, a group meet-up for L-Town natives, and a zone of family fun, but the closing night is something else entirely.

The Sunday night fireworks stops time. A fiery light show so intense it rivals Detroit’s firework display, drawing in neighboring residents like a magnet. The Civic Center campus floods with families. Five Mile and Farmington become lined with law chairs and blankets as attendees grab the perfect spot.

The fireworks are connective tissue to a particular moment in the lives of locals. A first kiss. Falling in love. Teenage rebelliousness. The freedom beyond of grasp of parents. An epic standoff between rival schools. The memory of absent friends. Running from police through the cemetery. Coming home late and parents not caring. Beer tent reunions.

Safety, security, and order are keys to the Spree’s success. Without it, families never come back. With violent crime, shootings, teen takeovers, and political terror proliferating in Michigan and across the nation, this is top of mind.

Neighboring municipalities have ended their summer festivals in recent years because they couldn’t control them. The city of Berkley canceled and banned future summer festivals due to an inability to control violence. Westland long ago ceased its festival, merging it with a more mature adult-targeted Blues, Brews, and Barbecue in August.

Brooklyn's annual Faster Horses Music Festival was ended two years ago due to acts of violence and sexual assaults. The Dearborn Heights Fest was canceled early last week due to Teen Takeovers. As these events grow, attendees from outside each city come looking for something to do with their kids. This is good.

Not good is the added propensity of hooliganism among those with no vested interest in Livonia who are looking to disrupt family fun.

This is an event for families. The moment the Spree becomes something else, we as a community have lost it.

Due to the increase in attendees during last year’s Spree, new safety measures have been added to the delight of most residents, but not everyone is happy about it.

Livonia City Council President Kayleigh Kavanagh Reid has pulled double duty as Executive Director of the Livonia Spree, and along with Spree Committee Chair Sam Caramagno, oversees a volunteer commission grappling with managing, running, and saving the Spree for future generations of Livonians.

Keeping the Spree means challenging Livonia’s status quo, inviting Boomer crashouts on Facebook and in council meetings.

In an effort to deter teens and young adults looking for trouble, The Spree now requires adult supervision for minors after 4 p.m. each night. On the final Sunday with the fireworks, a $10 entry fee, metal detectors, and parental supervision goes into effect at 4 p.m.

Caught in a tight spot between securing attendee’s safety or pissing off entitled baby boomers, Kavanagh Reid and her team have smartly decided to push past the social media whining and focus on the demographic with the deepest vested interest in Livonia’s perpetuity: moms, dads, and their children.

Saving the Spree is worth the effort. The Spree doesn’t belong to Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, or millennials. It belongs to the Zoomers and Alphas who hopefully will return one day with their own children.