How does one describe this year’s Big Shanty Festival…Awesome, Amazing, and Incredible. I believe this year’s Festival was the biggest and best in our history. The record crowds that came to our community are a testament to the fact that we are doing the right thing for the right reason.
Congratulations to our Festival Chair, Marlon Longacre, for raising the bar yet again and taking the event to the next level. I would like to thank our partner, The City of Kennesaw, Mayor Mathews and Council, Steve Kennedy and all the city department heads and staff for all their efforts, time and energy in helping us to showcase our great community with this phenomenal event. I would also like to give a special thank you to JRM Management. We can say all we want to about how great we are with these events, but we simply could not do it with your expertise and professionalism. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to work with you. I would also like to give recognition to all those who have come before us and laid the foundation for what we continue to build. Over 35 years ago, Trade Days began with 10 tents and a whopping crowd of nearly 100 people….today we have well over 300 businesses and sponsor tents and well over 70,000 people in attendance. We would not be where we are today without the vision and hard work of those who began this organization and what is now the Big Shanty Festival.
Thank you to our title sponsor, Superior Plumbing, and to all our sponsors for seeing the value and benefit of participating in this event. What you do will go right back into our community, supporting our schools, our children, organizations and local businesses. This month we begin by investing back and recognizing some of our outstanding graduating high school students. May is Education month for The KBA, where we will present scholarships to students as they prepare for the next step in their journey. These young people are outstanding examples of the next generation of leaders.
Thank you again for all those who helped make the year’s Big Shanty Festival such an amazing success. I hope to see you all Tuesday for our May luncheon and help us congratulate and recognize our outstanding students.
