Judge To Rule On Reservation Dispute At HERSHEY Stadium

(From The Patriot-News [Carlisle, Pennsylvania] -- By Matt Miller)

A CUMBERLAND COUNTY (PENNSYLVANIA) judge is expected to decide today whether a DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS COMPETITION or the pop group DESTINY'S CHILD has dibs on an August 7th date in HERSHEYPARK STADIUM.

JUDGE EDWARD E. GUDIO finished hearing testimony yesterday on a plea from Carlisle, Pennsylvania-based FIVE STAR BRASS PRODUCTIONS INC., which is seeking an injunction securing that date for its HERSHEY SPECTACULAR.

FIVE STAR is suing HERSHEY ENTERTAINMENT AND RESORTS, claiming the midstate's largest entertainment firm breached an oral agreement that reserved the stadium for its competition on August 7th.

HERSHEY officials are claiming there was no such commitment because FIVE STAR didn't have a written contract for its event, which has been held in the stadium for 20 years.

The deal with DESTINY'S CHILD was struck in mid-May, they said.

LARRY HERSHMAN, FIVE STAR chairman, said he received an oral commitment for the August 7th date three months earlier.

Hershman has said his firm could be ruined if it can't have that date.

More than 1,000 tickets have been sold, he said, and top-ranked units have committed to participate.

Many of those units are affiliated with DRUM CORPS INTERNATIONAL (DCI), whose president, DAN ACHESON, testified by phone yesterday.

Acheson said the performers probably wouldn't attend if the program, scheduled for the evening, was moved to the morning of August 7th.

KARL ROMINGER, FIVE STAR's lawyer, said HERSHEY officials yesterday offered his client use of the stadium from 9 am to 2 pm August 7th. Hershman had rejected an offer for THE GIANT CENTER.

Acheson said a morning contest would not be practical as some units would be performing in ALLENTOWN (PA) and in NEW YORK the night before.

Guido asked how a cancellation would affect his organization's relations with FIVE STAR.

"I would have difficulty working with FIVE STAR BRASS again," Acheson replied. "I would be very hesitant because I can't guarantee I'd have a venue to go to."

HERSHEY attorney HARVEY FREEDENBERG asked Guido to dismiss the injunction request, and argued that FIVE STAR could seek monetary damages in the dispute.

Since there was no written pact reserving the stadium for FIVE STAR, "is the court going to sit down and write a contract for the parties?" he asked.

"It's not the role of the court to say one of these events has more merit than the other," Freedenberg said.

MATTHEW FORD, HERSHEY's director of special events and entertainment, said DESTINY'S CHILD may instead use the smaller HERSHEYPARK AMPHITHEATER, which would still preclude holding the drum competition in the nearby stadium because of sound problems.

A DESTINY'S CHILD show before 7,000 to 8,000 fans in the amphitheater would generate $25,000 to $35,000 for his firm, compared to $75,000 to $100,000 for one before 22,000 in the stadium, Ford said.

He earlier testified that HERSHEY would earn a few thousand dollars from FIVE STAR's event.

A judge will decide Wednesday on two disputed events, both set for August 7th at HERSHEYPARK STADIUM.

Christy Young, thanks for the post.