POULSBO — Organizers and area leaders are keeping mum on the undetermined fate of Poulsbo’s unfunded Third of July, but a grass roots movement in the downtown core has already begun.

Hanging over the event is the threat of cancellation, which organizers Sandra Peterson and Mike McLaughlin announced last week, citing missed deadlines and financial hurdles. The city responded to the news, saying a community-driven committee would take the event’s reigns. To patriotically light up the sky, Third of July needs $33,000, along with $2,500 still needed to pay off last year’s celebration. In 2007, the event garnered 200 donations; in 2008, with a troubled economy and tightening budgets, just 20 donations were received, organizers reported.

Downtown Higher Groundz owner Ben Rogers said after hearing word Friday that the event faced cancellation, his mental cogs began to churn. With a background in sales, “I don’t take ‘No, it’s not going to happen’ for an answer,” Rogers said.

He’s got five other Front Street businesses committed so far, and hopes to find support from at least a dozen.

Ideas include donation jars and designated products which will funnel a portion of proceeds to Third of July coffers. Rogers said the event isn’t only a boon for the downtown economy, it’s a tradition.

“It needs to keep happening,” he said.

Whether it will remains to be seen: Peterson and McLaughlin said Wednesday they stand by their original notice of cancellation for the event, despite city reports otherwise. The two also say they hold licensing on the event’s name, meaning should another group try to hold a similar celebration, it may have to take a new moniker.

“I would be fine with them throwing the color in the sky if they use a different name,” said Peterson, who is concerned for liability reasons.

City spokesperson Carly Michelson said the city won’t fund the event, aside from some tax-based grant dollars already given, but does want to see it occur.

“I know that the community wants to see it happen, so we’re still going forward and trying to put a committee together,” she said.

Greater Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Adele Heinrich, who is also head of the city’s designated marketing coalition, had no comment except to say a statement would soon be released regarding the event’s fate.

Earlier this week, Peterson explained it normally takes six months to find enough sponsors for the event — and that’s in a good economy. The deadline for ordering fireworks was March 1, and she and McLaughlin have said the change in funding logistics tied with city grant money meant that date wasn’t met.

Meanwhile, Rogers and fellow downtown merchants are continuing efforts of their own.

“At least it’s something,” he said.