Water weighs slightly more than eight pounds per gallon. Ice is hard and pointy. As the ice-bucket challenges in support of ALS continue, an interesting insurance point emerges. Current contributor Karl Ahlrichs of Gregory & Appel Insurance reminds us that liability insurance may not cover the ice-bucket dropee (if that’s the proper term) if there are damages and medical bills as a result of the fundraising stunt. It all started innocently enough, with small buckets and big laughs for a good cause. Millions of dollars have been raised, and the take is well more than any annual ALS campaign before it. Still, the “one-upmanship” took over, and the bucket became larger, colder, and potentially more dangerous. Front-end loaders, 100-gallon barrels, airplane drops, etc., all were in the mix. Ahlrichs tells us liability insurance is intended to protect you from unknowingly causing harm, and as a willing participant you may be declined coverage by your insurance carrier when a claim is filed against you. There have been multiple hospitalizations and even more “fail videos” that are evidence that the trend of “bigger, colder and more spectacular” may not end as hoped. Our advice? Participate if you wish, but keep it small, manageable and safe. Or, remember, you always are free to donate to the charity of your choice at any time – with or without ice water. We did it that way. Much drier and far more comfortable that way.
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The fifth and final installment of this year’s Movies in the Park, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2,” will be screened at 7:35 p.m. Sept. 26 in Asa Bales Park. Please use the north entrance, 205 W. Hoover St. It’s 95 minutes of perfect family entertainment, and we urge you to take it in if you’re not otherwise encumbered. Parking at Westfield High School is free. Westfield Parks and Recreation has done a terrific job of staging the series. Hopefully, the series will return in 2015.
