Wawa becomes sponsor of city's July 4th festival

Say goodbye to Sunoco Welcome America!

Say hello to Wawa Welcome America!

Now say the new name for Philly's official July Fourth celebration three times as fast as you can.

Even if you can't, you'll have to get used to the new handle. City officials yesterday announced that Wawa Inc. is the new title sponsor of the July Fourth festival, replacing Sunoco Inc., which had been associated with the multi-day event since the mid-1990s.

Howard Stoeckel, president and chief executive officer of Wawa, said the company was "thrilled to be the title sponsor of this important regional celebration at a time when the eyes of the nation are on the great city of Philadelphia."

Wawa will contribute more than $3 million over three years in funding and services to the festival, officials said.

Sunoco's contract expired last year, and it is not participating in the festival this year, said Melanie Johnson, executive director of Welcome America, a nonprofit run by the city.

"They've been a great partner," Johnson said of Sunoco. She referred questions about why Sunoco chose not to continue its involvement to the Philadelphia-based oil company.

Sunoco spokesman Thomas Golembeski said the company had decided to redirect its community resources to education, workforce development, and environmental stewardship, and being the main sponsor of the festival was not part of its plans.

"We fulfilled our contract" last year and notified festival organizers that "we would not stand in the way of another company stepping in," Golembeski said.

"We had a great run," he said of the sponsorship.