A concurrent RESOLUTION

TO CELEBRATE THE THIRTY-EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA POULTRY FESTIVAL, TO BE HELD MAY 9-11, 2024, IN BATESBURG-LEESVILLE AND TO HONOR THOSE PLANNING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE FESTIVAL.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly are pleased to learn that the South Carolina Poultry Festival will celebrate its thirty-eighth anniversary at this year's festival in Batesburg-Leesville, May 9-11, 2024; 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 agribusiness, 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. In 2024, the celebration was named by law the official state poultry festival by the South Carolina General Assembly; and

Whereas, today, the festival features multiple stages offering continuous entertainment, some thirty food vendors, a carnival, a parade with over one hundred units, and more than seventy 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 dances; and

Whereas, a spectacular display of the American spirit will conclude the festival on Saturday evening in one of the largest pyromusical shows available; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly commend the planners and participants of the thirty-eighth 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, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, celebrate the thirty-eighth anniversary of the South Carolina Poultry Festival, to be held May 9-11, 2024, in Batesburg-Leesville and honor those planning and participating in the festival.

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