TO CELEBRATE THE THIRTY-FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA POULTRY FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN BATESBURG-LEESVILLE ON MAY 11-13, 2017, AND TO HONOR THOSE PLANNING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE FESTIVAL.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that the South Carolina Poultry Festival will celebrate its thirty-first year at this year's festival in Batesburg-Leesville from May 11 through 13, 2017; and
Whereas, employing thousands of citizens, South Carolina's billion-dollar poultry industry annually produces, processes, and markets vast amounts of eggs, broilers, turkeys, pigeons, quail, and spring chickens; and
Whereas, Lexington, Saluda, and Aiken counties serve as home to some of the state's top broiler producers, including such household names as Amick Farms, Columbia Farms, and Gentry Poultry Company; and
Whereas, in 1986, Batesburg-Leesville restaurant owner Sara Shealy hatched the idea of a poultry festival based in Lexington County to showcase the state's largest agri-business, and the Leesville Merchants Association created a festival from her proposal; and
Whereas, one year later, the Ridge Poultry Festival was held, hosting approximately twenty thousand visitors. The event became the South Carolina Poultry Festival in 1989, and in recent years its attendance has exceeded one hundred thousand people; and
Whereas, today the festival features six stages offering continuous entertainment, thirty food vendors, a carnival, a parade with well over one hundred ten units, and more than thirty commercial vendors and one hundred twenty crafters; and
Whereas, the event presents the best of Southern hospitality, and proceeds regularly support various local charities, organizations, and community causes while hosting the festival's own "#1 World's Best Chicken Cooking Contest"; and
Whereas, guests anticipate an impressive antique car and collector show, a five-kilometer road race, a volleyball tournament, and evening street dancing; and
Whereas, a spectacular display of the American spirit will conclude the festival on Saturday evening in one of the largest pyro-musical shows available; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives commend the planners and participants of the thirty-first annual South Carolina Poultry Festival and appreciate the beneficial impact of the poultry industry on the economy of the Palmetto State. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the House of Representatives of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, celebrate the thirty-first anniversary of the South Carolina Poultry Festival held in Batesburg-Leesville on May 11-13, 2017, and honor those planning and participating in the festival.