A $28,000 loss on its year-end financial statement was not what the South Carolina Peach Festival had in mind when it booked The Four Tops and brought the mud bog back last summer.

The festival board of governors is in the process of paying several thousand dollars in outstanding bills as it begins work on what will be the 30th anniversary of the Peach Festival, board chairman Merv Bishop said. The board’s plan of action to eliminate the debt includes making payment arrangements and holding fundraisers such as selling $1 raffle tickets for a $500 gift certificate from Wal-Mart to be awarded Dec. 17.

Ongoing improvements to its Orchard Park site behind Sunny Slope Farms and attendance that did not meet board members expectations for events such as the Peach Praise Christian concert contributed to a decline in the festival’s overall financial picture. The festival has spent more than $55,000 over the past three years to develop the Orchard Park site.

The festival signed a 20-year lease on the property in 2002 after the Gaffney Board of Public Works asked the festival to relocate from Lake Whelchel, which had hosted festival events for the previous decade.

After this year’s festival attendance did not meet expectations, Bishop said a workshop will be held Jan. 7 in Gaffney to chart a different direction for the festival.

“We know we are going to need to make changes. We want to make next year’s festival more community oriented,” Bishop said. “We would like to hold many of the events in the downtown area of Gaffney so we can have more of a festival-type atmosphere.”

The board is exploring the possibility of working with the City of Gaffney and Uptown Gaffney Merchants Association on holding festival events in the downtown area next year, board member Bobby Beattie said.

“We really appreciate the community for staying with us and supporting the festival for the past three decades,” Beattie said. “We would like to tie into the festival’s history by bringing some of our events back to the downtown area.”

The festival will continue holding major events at its Orchard Park site each July and increase its efforts to support local charitable organizations.

The festival held a fall mud bug for charity in late October. Originally designed to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, board member Carlton Bridges said the event ended up providing muchneeded help for Meals on Wheels and the Salvation Army.

At the mud bog, the festival collected more than 300 canned food items for Meals on Wheels and was able to donate clothing items to the Salvation Army.

The event was held shortly after Tropical Storm Tammy caused flood damage to several county homes and forced repairs on 25 county and state roads.

“We plan to work with charitable organizations on more events in the future,” Bridges said. “We want to support the community and help people in need.”