'Miracle' won't take place in Marana

The event formerly known as Miracle in Marana and hosted by Miracle's Inc. is moving out of the town's Ora Mae Harn Park unexpectedly.

Instead, the party will begin at 10 a.m. next Saturday at Rillito Park Race Track, 4502 N. First Ave. Santa Claus will be there to pass out toys to any child who wants one.

The issue with the change of venue comes down to money and short notice for Marana.

Miracle's Inc. has held the party in the town park for at least five years and has never been asked to pay to use the area before, say party organizers.

But in the tight economy and with new procedures in place, the town didn't get enough notice from Miracle's Inc. for the Town Council to decide whether it could let the event be held again for free, say town staffers.

"We got a call from Miracle's Inc. sometime last week, and they asked about using the park, and ordinarily when big events are coming we've had some warning, some type of planning for a while," said Tom Ellis, director of Marana Parks and Recreation.

In the past, negotiations between the town and Miracle's Inc. happened a lot earlier, and the town always agreed to help sponsor the event, he said.

"It's a last-minute request that we weren't prepared for," he said.

Ellis said he would be open to allowing Miracle's Inc. to put up signs letting people know where the party is this year, but added that he hasn't been asked yet.

Town spokesman Rodney Campbell explained that non-profits get "discretionary funding" from the town by going through a process that includes getting the Town Council's authorization. But Miracle's Inc. never submitted a request to go through that process, he said.

"You can't just assume if you're a non-profit that you're going to get support. There is a process that everyone has to go through to get this kind of sponsorship. So far this process has not been followed," he said.

The Miracle's Inc. board said they were effectively blindsided by the town's request that they pay to use the park this year.

The stage for Santa Claus would cost $250, and to use the whole park — which includes rental of all the ramadas for the day — would be about $70 per hour. The town would also need compensation for the hours worked by any town staffers for the event.

"In the past, they never, ever, ever did anything like that," said Miracle's Inc. co-founder and board member Tim Adams. "There were no charges. In the past, they loved to accept it as their event on their Web site."

Former Marana Councilman Tim Escobedo, also a co-founder and board member of Miracle's Inc., said that last year was the first time the group was asked to pay anything, and that was to help cover the police service the town provided.

He acknowledged knowing he would need to go before the council this year, and said the board worried about Miracle's Inc. being denied town funding and having to pay for everything out-of-pocket.

In any case, the party is in a different place this year, and the Miracle's Inc. folks are worried that people won't know and will show up at the old venue.

"My biggest nightmare is now unfolding," Adams said.

Miracle's Inc. volunteers spent part of last week contacting about 500 Toys for Tots families to let them know where to go for the party.

The location change has combined with extremely low toy collections to create a lot of stress, Adams said.

Miracle's Inc. met with the Toys for Tots board Tuesday and found out that as of that date, the Marines had managed to collect 17,000 toys.

Normally, they have about 40,000 by this time. Last year, they had 44,000.

Miracle's Inc. alone usually needs about 10,000 toys for the three events it sponsors, Adams said.

So, like the town, the charity needs to hold onto every dollar it can. And the county is letting Miracle's Inc. use the Rillito park for free.

Escobedo said the group is still working on plans for Santa to fly in by helicopter as he has in years past. But even if that doesn't work, he'll make a grand entrance one way or another.

This year's party will have no jumping castles, but there will still be face painting, carnival games, pretend tattooing and a disc jockey playing Christmas music, he said.

"The town's on the up and up," Escobedo said. "I'm sure that had we gone through the process a little earlier, you and I would not be having this conversation right now. The town has a process. We now understand that process."

If you go

• What: Miracle's Inc. toy distribution party.

• When: 10 a.m. until the toys are gone next Saturday.

• Where: Rillito Park Race Track, 4502 N. First Ave.