The 30th annual Geranium Festival, sponsored by the McDonough Lions Club, will be held on Saturday, May 17th, 2008. Over 300 vendors will be on hand with a variety of handcrafted items for sale and attendance is estimated at 20,000.
Begun in 1970 as the Henry County Chamber of Commerce Arts and Crafts show, under the leadership of the late Mr. Fred Crumbley, the first show was held at Big Spring Park in McDonough with 17 vendors participating. The following year the show was moved to the square with 57 vendors participating. The Chamber of Commerce continued to sponsor the festival for five or six more years until management of this successful program was offered to others.
In 1977, Mrs. Nettye Clifton, Executive Director of the Chamber, called a number of civic organizations regarding management of the show and the McDonough Lions Club responded. They have continued and expanded this annual community event. Under the direction of the Lions Club, this arts and craft show gained a registered trade name and became know as the Geranium Festival. It has since grown to be one of the top three one-day festivals in attendance in the state.
Mrs. Lois Carney and her late husband, Kirk of Oglevee Products, a local based nursery and the largest geranium grower in the country, lent their support by donating hundreds of geraniums to the city for display in the square from May to September. This tradition of planting geraniums on the square continues today. Oglevee nursery has led the city of McDonough as being known far and wide as the Geranium City.
The festival is always held on the third Saturday in May and has grown to include daylong entertainment. Local non-profit organizations, clubs, school and church groups operate a variety of food concessions. The festival hours are from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Much of the success of the festival is credited to the late J. R. and Musette Coan, long time festival managers and to Mrs. Pat Alexander who managed the festival until recently. All the members of the McDonough Lions Club work diligently to make sure the festival is a success. The City of McDonough provides invaluable assistance in the planning, set up, crowd control and clean up.
The current chairman of the festival is Diane Reed. Applications for returning vendors are mailed in January each year and new vendors are considered for any open spaces as of February. The McDonough Lions club may be reached at (678) 432-7112 or by accessing the website at www.geraniumfestival.com. |
