06/04/2024
WHAT. A. WEEKEND. Greers Ferry, you really showed upโฆThursday, Friday and Saturday! LakeFest, JeepFest, 5K Fun Run, Veterans Appreciation โ my mind is still boggled! This little community never ceases to amaze me. This is going to be a lengthy post, so please settle in and read on!
Our festival began on Thursday evening with a ceremony to remember and honor those brave men and women who gave and continue to give so very much so that all of us are granted the freedom to live in this wonderful community. Your strength, your courage, your integrity will never go unnoticed or unappreciated! We salute you! To Eddie and Jeanie Whitehurst, your team of Percherons are absolutely beautiful, and we thank you for providing free carriage rides to our veterans and participating in our festival. Thank you to F. L. Davis Ace Hardware for continuing to support our community by providing the food for the event. Becky, Chris โ your fellow committee members thank you for putting this together. We are so happy that the two of you joined us this year!
Friday โ The rain couldnโt keep us down and the show must go on! The vendors and concessioners rallied. Solid Rock Audio hunkered down and kept things moving on the stage. Whiskey Bent Rebels, The Nightliners, Josey John and Dirty Lindsey rocked the night and made sure that everyone who braved the weather were well entertained. What a show! We thank you!
Saturday โ There were a lot of prayers going up and they were definitely answered! The day could not have been more beautiful! We hosted our first 5K Fun Run and it was fabulous! Thanks, Kayla Renihan for putting this together. Great work! How about that First Annual Arkansas Championship Catfish Cookoff? Was that cool or what?! Thank you, Bruce, for heading this up! We had seven teams participate from all over the state. Our judges included Arkansas Attorney General, Tim Griffin, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Wes Ward, The Buzz 103.7 and Fishing with Big Sarge DJ, Vince Sherrill and back-up judge, Arkansas Catfish Promotion Board Chairman, Steve Kueter. Team โFair to Midlandโ took home both trophies and a year of bragging rights. I can see the competition already brewing for next year! Steve Timbs knocked it out of the park again with JeepFest! He had a great group of volunteers helping with the event and they awarded Mayors Choice, Peopleโs Choice, Best Wrangler, Best Gladiator and Best non-Wrangler/non-Gladiator. There were some very nice-looking rigs participating this year! Thanks so much for handling this huge event! Can I get a HECK YEA, for Nick and Madison Menne and all of the volunteers from The Other Side?! They parked more cars than I care to count! To Sammy Green and his crew - thanks for providing top-notch security! You kept everyone safe and put a great plan in place to keep the cars moving when entering and exiting the venue. Well done, my friend! Moving on over to the stage, The Charla Freeland Band, Sophie and the New Relics and Cliff & Susan entertained us very well and got the crowd ready for our headliner. Each of these bands have their own unique sound and brought it to this yearโs festival. Sawyer Brown. What can I say? I think we can all agree that they put on an excellent show and rocked the crowd! I can tell you that, in all my backstage experience, I have never worked with such an incredibly kind, professional band and crew. They were awesome! I hope that good times were had by all, and great memories were made! Greers Ferry, you really showed up! Man, I love this town.
We can never say enough about our generous sponsors. Our Diamond Sponsor: F. L. Davis Ace Hardware. Our Platinum Sponsor: Awakening Events. Our Gold Sponsors: Shiloh Landing, Laceyโs Narrows Marina, Johnsonโs Concrete Products (a subsidiary of Mitchum Properties), Snappyโs and Baptist Health. Our Silver Sponsors: 2 Star J (In Loving Memory of Brock Edward McCarthy), First Community Bank, Clevenger Recreation, Greers Ferry Heat & Air, Angela Rogers Group, First Electric Cooperative, Janssens Lakefront Restaurant, Autumn Woods Home Park, Knapp Truss and Laceyโs Boating Center. Our Bronze Sponsors: Davidโs Fire Equipment, Menneโs Marine Services, F. L. Davis Shopping Center, Timbs Heat & Air, FAB&T, Donham Realty, Community Water Service, Eagle Bank, ASAP Realty, Centennial Bank, Lake Sudz, Nichols Realty Express, Hinkle Boat & RV Storage, Lakeside Chiropractic, Coldwell Banker/Heritage Homes, A 1 Tint & Truck/Boat Accessories, Edwards Food Giant, Shiloh Marina, Greers Ferry Auto Museum, Cintas, Dotyโs Mobile Detailing, Ryanโs Auto Supply, Inc, F. L. Davis Ace Cash Lumber, Bentleyโs, Family Market and Winston Law Firm, PLLC. There is absolutely no way that we could do any of this without you. Thanks for believing in us to utilize your hard-earned money to provide entertainment to our community. To our sponsors in kind โ Tim and Beth Janssen and their crew for hosting and supplying meals to Sawyer Brown, the Cleburne County Road Department and City of Greenbrier for the use of your barricades, M2 Equipment & Rentals for the light towers, Lone Star Baptist Church for the use of your chairs, Arkansas Catfish Promotion Board for supplying the catfish for our competition โ many, many thanks! To the City of Greers Ferry Mayor, Darryl Birdsong, and his wife, Jaci, a huge THANK YOU for donating the use of your land to LakeFest for parking. YOUโRE AWESOME!
To our Volunteers, Vendors, Concessioners and Sponsors, we know that this festival would not be possible without the efforts of so many wonderful people โ youโve become like family. To Mike Story, Thomas Murphree and Mike Shahan, you guys ROCK! As Iโve said before, I think yโall take two steps to our one. On behalf of the LakeFest committee, we thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts!
To my fellow committee members โ Darryl Birdsong, Bruce Towery, Steve Timbs, Madison Menne, Nick Menne, Sammy Green, Mike Story, Chris Morin and Becky Murphree โ you always put your best foot forward, contribute a lot of personal time and go the extra mile to make a tiny vision become a success. It means more than you know. Yโall ready for next year? I canโt wait!
Let Your Love Flow!
Kristi
