Every third week in Sept., something magical happens. That's the Golden Delicious Fest. AKA, the Big Apple Festival. There's really nothing magical about it. It's a product of hard work. A small band of volunteers meet monthly and make plans for the annual event. It takes nearly a full year to get everything in place and ready for the three day long family fun fest.
   On Nov 7th, that group convened their monthly meeting in the CSCS (old CDC) building on Main Street. Including visitors, a dozen or so were on hand for the 90 + minute gathering.   The head of the organization is Renee Holcomb.
   Based on the conversations around the room, something happened after the 2019 Fest ended. Sounds like three or more of the Boardsters quit. One of the resigned Boardsters is Dawn Whitely who commented in her resignation letter, she was quitting due in part to poor communications among the Boardsters. Others resignees are Greg Fitzwater and Dave Schoolcraft. Note: There may have been others but we didn't catch their names.
  There was a time when the Apple Committee had $1000's on hand over the Winter months. Not so now. Financial reports indicate, they have right at $9134 in the bank. That decline in funds comes via cutbacks in State funding of the economic draws in every county.
  Got another nugget , this one pretty stinky..
  During Apple Festivals, there are thousands of people in downtown Clay. During high traffic count times, it takes a Badge presence to make sure everything stays stable. If a fight or other calamity break out, Badges are needed pronto and able to be discrete and not spoil the tourism draw for the rest of the world.
  Over the last 40+ years of the Apple, Black,  Brown, Blue and Green Shirts show up and maintain order. They do that without charging the Fest Committee for their presence. Something changed this year. For the first time ever, the Sheriff's Dept sent the Applers a nearly $1200 invoice for being on hand. That was a big unplanned hit for the Board.    Not sure why the change happened since the Big Apple has always been held on weekends. Translation: weekend pay has always been there.
   With several resignations accepted, Michelle Deyton and Vanessa Dunnigan were placed on the Board. Nov was also the Election of New Officers night. Without anything in the way of controversy, Prez - Renee Holcomb; Brittany Adkins Clifton - Secretary; Melinda Stewart - Treasurer; and, VP Daniel Coleman.
  Mayor Shamblin stopped in and after some encouragement, agreed to be on the Board if needed.  For anyone else willing to roll of their sleeves, there remains two open slots on the Board. How about you?
 

 

New Boardster Michelle Deyton.

  Here's something interesting. BJ Smith was on hand and offered up a new dish for the 2020 Fest. BJ suggested they come up with a "Jeep" activity. Stuff like a place some Jeep Club could assemble / hang out, include them in the Grand Parade, provide some kind of mud course for fun, and then have em back in town to enjoy the Saturday night music and fireworks. No decisions made but it sounded like, the Board thought that might be a good addition.
  In 2019, the Apple group pulled out all the stops and brought in a name brand band for the feature act. The Confederate Railroad band brought down the house and brought in record crowds Saturday night. Those record crowds lined vendor pockets. In the end, everyone was happy.
  For 2020, once again, they have the Clay County Bank and Gould Electric coughing up the big $$$ to bring in a name brand band. The search is already on  for a feature act. There is a problem readers. With around $15k available, those big name bands, they cost a bunch, a big bunch more than what's available from local funding.
  The 2019 Karioki contest was a big success. For 2020, the volunteers are thinking about expanding the compettition by offering big cash pay outs for the winner. No decisions made but if it happens, the competition will be held on Friday night with the winner serving as the warm up act for the feature band, Saturday evening.
  The Apple Committee has problems with their Facebook page. Sounded like, maybe the administrator and password was held by a previous Boardster and changes need to be made. Also, the group is not satisfied with their current website. Problems include, someone dropped the ball in the way of updating the rascal.
  Know how to set up a webpage? Call Renee ASAP. They need someone to redo the whole smear and even handle the weekly updates. Interested? Call Renee.
  Something else changed this year.
  Instead of the Applers using their own sound system and trailer slash rolling stage, they hired out a company to handle a rental stage and dynamite sound system. The cost was around $5000. All in the room were in agreement, the change, the charge, was well worth the price. Expect the same equipment to be in place for the 2020 Fest.
   It takes a lot of $$$ and volunteers to pull off the biggest event in the county. Nothing is cheap anymore. It's also harder to finds volunteers these days.
AW