Carefree Truth

Issue #285, November 11, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chairwoman and spokesperson for the Carefree Christmas Festival, Jo Gemmill, announced the 6th annual Festival would be "bringing snow and good cheer" to Carefree December 13th-15th, and proceeded to credit the key members of her committee.  She stated that this is the best and most productive committee with which she's ever been involved, and she's very proud of everyone.

 

 

 

 

Councilman Glenn Miller is responsible for the technical component which includes electrical and lighting, and he is the point person for any vendor issues.  Mr. Miller jokes that he hopes some year there will be no technical issues and he will actually get to see the Saturday night Electric Light Parade.  Mrs. Gemmill sincerely hopes that will be the case this year!         

 

 

Manny Gonzales and Glenn Miller are the fundamental workers in the field, assuring all the logistical things happen on time and without electrical or technical glitches.  Mr. Gonzales looks forward to someday seeing the Parade too.

 

 

 

Kim Prince, owner of Proven Media Services, handles the PR and advertising, which begins in earnest around Thanksgiving. There is already information about it on www.AZcentral.com, and the CITYSunTimes is wonderful about publishing Save the Date postcards.  The Festival has a Facebook page, and the website www.carefreechristmasfestival.com is operational. Brochures, portions of which are shown here, are available at many locations around town.

 

 

 

Lyn Hitchon "shakes the can" collecting donations from local merchants.  Most local business owners are very supportive of the Festival, and major corporate sponsors now contact Mrs. Gemmill, wanting to participate.  Both corporate and local business donations are ahead of where they were last year at this time.

 

 

 

 

Herbert Hitchon is the volunteer photographer.  Several of his photos appear on this year's brochure, and he produced 4 short videos using his photos from last year's Festival, the links to which are on www.carefreechristmasfestival.com.  I will include them here too, so you can get a feel for the fun.  Enjoy! 

 

Parade 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak76DsqNyJU

Fireworks 2012-10/13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXid89zpj4M  

Magic Bird Gift Market 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A9-7YebbxQ    

FAR Pet Parade & Adoption Event 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skrJuETuTw4     

 

 

 

 

Ron Welsh, from ACE Hardware, supplies additional items for the vendors at a booth in the Magic Bird Gift Market, and ACE has a float in the Parade.  He is also the liaison with the Boy Scouts, who participate in the Parade.

 

 

 

Patty Villeneuve and Jennifer McGirr, from the Carefree/Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce, organize and coordinate the Parade.  Ms. McGirr is responsible for the 28 Marshals.  The Parade will begin at 6 PM.  This year, the Festival is honored to have one of the families of the Fallen 19 from the Granite Mountain Hotshots as the Grand Marshall.  The family will be hosted free of charge overnight and given breakfast the next morning, courtesy of the Carefree Resort and Conference Center, so they can enjoy the festivities on Sunday.  In addition, the family of the fallen police officer from Anthem will be riding in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tank.  It is hoped that this will bring some Christmas cheer to the families who suffered these great losses.  The fireworks, which are sponsored by APS, will begin with 19 salutes to honor the Fallen 19.  This will be a series of 19 loud explosions, followed by the fireworks.   

 

 

 

The Gift Market will again be run by Roberta Toombs Rechlin, owner of Magic Bird Festivals.  This year there will be around 100 vendors, with about 20 food vendors participating.  10 spaces are provided free of charge to local non-profit organizations and major sponsors of the Festival.

 

 

 

 

Posse Commander Dave Bennett is the liaison with MCSO. He and his group help move the Festival visitors in and out of Carefree safely.

 

 

 

Sherry Nelson, owner of the Mumbo Jumbo Boutique, is the liaison with the Carefree Marketplace (the Bashas center).  She is responsible for the train that connects the Marketplace with Easy Street and the Gardens.  The train was very popular when it debuted last year.

 

 

 

Last, but not least, Mrs. Gemmill thanked Holly Bergman, owner of the Wild Holly Gallery and Chairwoman of Foothills Animal Rescue (FAR), who started the Festival with her many years ago.  Mrs. Bergman organizes the Sunday morning pet events, beginning with the Pet Parade, and followed by the FAR Adoption Event.

 

 

 

This year, there will be 3 MC stands, up from 2 last year, so the people along the entire route can hear the announcements.  They will be located in front of The English Rose Tea Room, Thomas Custom Jewelers, and Giordano's Trattoria Romana.  Carefree resident and professional entertainer Kevin Glenn will be the MC in the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion throughout the Festival.

 

 

 

There are some fun new features this year.   The jazz band, The Kelso Brothers Quintet, all of whom are graduates of Cactus Shadows High School, will be playing on Friday afternoon.  Carriage rides will be available Friday evening.  Saturday, the Desert Foothills Theater will provide a medley of theater classics in the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion.  The dance troupe of girls from Adage Studio will perform on Sunday.  The popular dance band, Affinity, which has a large fan base from their concerts at El Pedregal, will perform Sunday afternoon, following the Pet Parade and the FAR Adoption event.

 

 

 

Mrs. Gemmill received congratulations from the Council.  Vice Mayor Les Peterson stressed the importance of marketing the decorations and lights around the downtown area and in the Gardens.  They will be up from Thanksgiving through New Years,  and he asked if PR for that could be included in the Festival marketing campaign.  Mrs. Gemmill replied, "Absolutely!" and confirmed that visiting Carefree during that period would be encouraged.  Mayor David Schwan said, "Well done!", which was followed by applause from the Council and the audience.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wexey2eEhM4

 

 

 

 

 

Lyn Hitchon

 

 

 

Prepared by Carefree Truth

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