CAREFREE TRUTH
Carefree Truth #463
Carefree Truth
Issue #463, February 20, 2016
Carefree Marketing Director Gina Kaegi said she envisioned
a large and engaging event when she began to organize a fall Pumpkin Festival, but the partnership with Ray Villafane generated more media coverage than she could ever have imagined. "He not only delivered, but brought more to the table than just his skill and artistic ability, but also his creativity, friendship, and love for the town." He spent many hours here, and has found the Gardens to be a place that inspires him. Many residents and businesses welcomed him with open arms.
Mrs. Kaegi, who has been doing marketing for 24 years, said if an event generates positive, warm, exciting, and passionate feelings, and people are sorry to see it end, it is very special and something in which to take pride. Some people actually cried as the crew was packing up to leave.
The Enchanted Garden Pumpkin Festival brought approximately 30,000 visitors to Carefree over a 16 day period, with an average of 1,900 daily. With it's wide audience appeal, weekday visits were visibly steady. The Festival increased the Season, which generally starts in November, by an extra month. The restaurants were so busy that many had lines. Jo Gemmill wrote that the English Rose Tea Room was 25% busier than during the corresponding weekends in 2014. Catherine Mar stated that Venues benefited greatly from the Festival. Mike Kennelly, owner of the UPS Store in the Basha's center made a special trip to Town Hall to report that he was hearing great things from many of the residents who have their mailboxes there. "This is the best thing this town has done since I've owned a business here."
Many new visitors from all corners of the Valley and from out of state came to see the pumpkins, and there was an increase in Carefree residents who had never visited the Gardens or the Pavilion. Many came more than once, drawn by the rotating exhibits. Villafane Studios was exclusive to Carefree in Arizona. Nothing like it had been done in this state before. The Festival was open from 9 AM to 9 PM daily, and attracted all ages from babies to grandparents, bringing generations together.
The Festival garnered overwhelming local, national, and global media attention. Ray drove into Phoenix to carve pumpkins on the local TV stations. All of the Phoenix area TV stations were here at least twice, with an estimated publicity value of $80,000. And they are now very aware that this is Carefree, not Cave Creek, a mistake made frequently in the past. Carefree gained national attention when ESPN contacted the Town and came here to film after Ray carved the NFL logo and a pumpkin with the likeness of sportscaster John Gruden. 10 million viewers of Monday Night Football saw a 25 second spot of the Pumpkin Festival during the first half of the game, valued according to ESPN at $1 million plus if the Town had to pay for it. NHK, the primary broadcast network in Japan, filmed a 7 minute segment that aired in Japan during prime time. All of this was free PR for the Town of Carefree.
There were print spreads in Images AZ, in Phoenix Home and Garden, and in the Valley Guide Magazines. The Arizona Office of Tourism offered Ray a rare blog, and the Festival was voted one of the Top 10 Events in Arizona. Carefree only spent $8,600 for paid print ads.
Mrs. Kaegi created a website dedicated to the event which got 70,702 views. The Carefree FaceBook page engagement was up 49.4% to 55,305 weekly views, and photos of the pumpkins were displayed on Instagram. When people see photos of Ray's pumpkins, they continue going to that site. He is a pioneer in the Halloween industry. Ray creates and others follow. He has "Villa Fans" in Europe and Asia, as well as "groupies" in the US who follow him from place to place. He has many high profile clients nationally and internationally.
During the Enchanted Garden Pumpkin Festival the local high schools organized art student field trips to Carefree. Ray was a teacher for 13 years before his pumpkin carving business took off, and he enjoyed giving the hands-on pumpkin carving lessons. The Town got many inspirational letters from the students. The Town and the YMCA partnered to provide 2 pumpkin carving nights for both children and adults, solidifying the new relationship between Carefree and the Y. The tickets were sold out both nights, and helped raise over $5,000 for the Y.
Mrs. Kaegi thanked Ray Villafane "for providing more than I could ever have asked for." She also thanked corporate sponsors APS which is also a sponsor of the Christmas Festival, Let There Be Light which donated many hours of labor and lights, and the Carefree Resort and Conference Center which was very excited about the pumpkins. She thanked Kim Prince of ProvenMedia for coordinating the TV coverage. She pointed out the "cheering section" in the back of the room consisting of the Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, Jennifer McGirr from National Bank of Arizona, and LeAnda Merrihew, the resident who approached her with the idea of a pumpkin festival, and who volunteered throughout the event. She thanked Mayor Les Peterson and his wife Mary, who were at the Festival helping daily, very generous with their time. She said the mayoral presence was important. She also thanked the Council members for their support. They took a big gamble and it paid off.
Councilman Mike Farrar said it was a spectacular event, and everyone loved it. Mayor Peterson said, "Thank you to Ray, but also a tremendous thank you to Gina."
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
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