Financial report completed

The South Carolina Peach Festival will learn soon what impact The Four Tops and large events like the mud bog had on the festival financially.

Gaffney accountant Jim Cudd has completed a financial report on this summer’s festival. Cudd was scheduled to present the financial report this month.

Board chairman Merv Bishop said he was not sure if the festival board will break its normal practice and call a meeting to receive the financial report in December. The board normally doesn’t hold a meeting in December because of the Christmas holiday season.

This year’s festival included the Four Tops appearance at Peach Beach, a mud bog, a 2day tractor pull and a contemporary Christian concert. Festival organizers estimated 7,000 people attended the Four Tops and the mud bog event.

The festival scheduled a rare fall mud bog in late October to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Despite a sparse crowd, the festival collected more than 300 canned food items for Meals on Weels and was able to donate clothing items to the Salvation Army.

The fall mud bog met its purpose, which was to help county residents suffering from the impact of Tropical Storm Tammy. The storm dumped up to eight inches of rain on parts of Cherokee County, damaging a total of 25 county and state roads.

“We would have liked a higher turnout for the mud bog this fall. We held it in the middle of the hunting and football season when a lot of people were really busy on the weekends,” Bishop said. “We were still pleased the festival was able to work with charities in the community to help people in need.”

The festival will hold a workshop in January to plan the 2006 event.

“We will hold the workshop to put the festival together. We have a lot of new ideas,” Bishop said. “We might not hold as many events, but the events that are held could be bigger.”