Scott POWELL LEDGER STAFF WRITER Weird activities and trouble have a way of following me around.

I discovered the existence of two drinks last week called “Son of a Peach” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Yes, there is a beer named after the 1975 comedy film written and performed by the British comedy group Monty Python. The film is a spoof on the legend of King Arthur’s quest to find the Holy Grail. Grail.

The peach beer is quite a different matter and came to my attention when I went to see Daddy Joe’s owner Shag Stepp for details about a Peach Festival concert he has helped organize for the “Big Mill” site on July 17. It seems Stepp had recently decided to add a seasonal beer made by Spartanburg company RJ Rockers when he had a new draft system installed at his Gaffney restaurant.

Are peaches and beer a good combination? This is all open to interpretation and I will let you make up your own mind on whether it’s a good thing.

The information about “Son of a Peach” did allow me to satisfy the goal I have every year when it comes time to put together another South Carolina Peach Festival special section.

I am always looking for something different I can put in this section that I haven’t done before. Opportunities this year come in the form of new festival events like a chicken wing cooking contest, the county’s largest yard sale, and a “Dunk A Cop” fundraiser scheduled for Saturday at the South Carolina Peach Festival.

Readers can check out today’s special section to find out more about the happenings at this year’s South Carolina Peach Festival.

The festival has its origins in a “Peach Day” that the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce organized in 1976 to celebrate and promote the peach industry. Today, there are just a couple of farmers still growing peaches locally.

The South Carolina Peach Festival has grown into a summer event which runs for several days.

While some festival events use a peach theme, I think the main reason for holding a South Carolina Peach Festival today is bringing out-of-town visitors into Cherokee County. There will be visitors from Indiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia coming here to participate in festival events such as concerts and a barbecue competition.

This year’s festival is broken into this weekend’s events in Blacksburg and a weekend of events July 15-17 in Gaffney.

I think the real value in having a festival and institutions like Limestone College

Limestone College go beyond simply looking at profits. With nearly 800 day students, Limestone College officials have estimated the small liberal arts college has a $40 million yearly economic impact in Cherokee County.

I would like to see the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce or the City of Gaffney do an economic impact study on how the South Carolina Peach Festival impacts business activity locally.

This would help answer economic questions on whether the Peach Festival remains a viable effort in Cherokee County.

The Blue Ridge BBQ Festival organizers in Tryon, N.C., were asking the same question earlier this year.

Blue Ridge festival organizers briefly cancelled the regional barbecue event before local residents established a $75,000 rainy day fund so the event could continue.

From an entertainment standpoint, South Carolina Peach Festival officials often have said their goal is to provide something for everybody at the festival.

This is another way of saying, “There is something we think you will like at the festival. You will not like everything.”

I definitely fall into this camp.

I often wish the peach festival organizers would broaden their musical horizons.

This is simply a personal preference born out of the fact that I have never fully cared for Carolina beach music. There are many Cherokee County residents who likely feel the same way about the music genres I happen to like.

I am more comfortable on water skis than with my hands on a golf club. And that’s not saying much.

I’m in hog heaven at barbecue competitions and intend to join the Kansas City Barbecue Society soon. One of these days I would like to become a certified judge so I can go help judge a barbecue competition one weekend.

I will settle for enjoying the “Taster’s Choice” during the Peach Festival barbecue competition July 17.

Everyone has their own definition of entertainment. This is why we are all free to go out and find our own fun.

Scott Powell (spowell@gaffneyledger.com) covers education issues for The Gaffney Ledger.