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41st Annual Mountain Moonshine Festival By A.J. PUCKETTThe 41st Annual Mountain Moonshine Festival has come and gone, with an estimated over 100,000 people passing through downtown Dawsonville in just a single weekend. "We felt it went really well, and we have been getting estimates back of over 100,000 visitors and that is truly amazing," said Calvin Byrd, with K.A.R.E. for Kids. According to Byrd the festival had almost 300 vendors and the car shows had at least 250 cars in attendence both days. The weekend was also filled with lots of good food and entertainment for the whole family. There were lots of musical acts on three different stages throughout the weekend and even activities for the kids to enjoy. The festival was kicked of Saturday morning with a parade lead by the Boy Scouts and the Tiger Pride band, followed by the 2008 Grand Marshal Buddy Baker. "The response from the general public was great, people really enjoyed themselves," said Byrd. "We had a few problems here and there, but overall the atmosphere was great." Despite the cool fall weather that settled in over the weekend and at times rough winds, many of the vendors that attended had a successful weekend. "I talked to several vendors that didn't even come back on Sunday because they had already sold everything they brought to the festival," said Byrd. "I would really like to thank the people that helped bring this together," said Byrd. "We had a hundred different volunteers over the weekend and countless more throughout the year that brought this thing together and made it what it was." K.A.R.E. for Kids is the primary sponsor of the Annual Mountain Moonshine Festival and many of the proceeds with go to help with the programs that they do throughout the year. K.A.R.E. works to meet the needs of Dawson County's children and over the years have bought winter coat, shoes, clothing, medicine, eye glasses, list of items required for boot camp, educational resources, summer school fees and toys. |
