News

• Best Website for the festival website. Information about festival musicians, festival sponsors, special events, festival staff, history of the festival, as well as ticket, accommodations and travel information for festival attendees is provided on the website.
• Best Event Photo for photos representative of the family-atmosphere outdoor musical festival. Photos included a photo of the United States Flag (sent to festival organizers by an Army Infantry Captain with the request that the flag be flown during the festival in memory of thirteen soldiers who lost their lives fighting in Iraq) and a soldier’s boots which remained on-stage throughout the festival and was part of the Patriotic Salute presentation led by Retired Air Force General Larry Huggins at the start of the festival each day. Other pictures included a picture of Uwe Kruger, one of the Musical Hosts of the festival, performing on-stage, and a picture of the Carolina in the Fall banner hanging on the Shepherd’s barn at the entrance to the festival site.
• Best Mass Media Printed Material for the festival program that was available during Carolina in the Fall free of charge to all festival attendees. The program contained Festival Greetings from the Festival Hosts and the Musical Hosts; the Stage Schedule; Petey’s Place Children’s Area Schedule; detailed information about each musician; sponsor information, vendor information, special activities information; and, a special thank you to specific volunteers.
• Best Sponsorship Packet for sponsor information provided for the cultivation of relationships with potential sponsors to ensure that both the festival and the individual or business mutually benefit from the sponsorship endeavor.
• Best Press Kit which includes Press Releases, all festival printed materials, and communication with various Media Representatives for promotional articles and/or interviews.
• Sponsor of the Year for Harold’s Restaurant in North Wilkesboro, NC. An excerpt from the award recognition follows: Harold’s Restaurant is a small restaurant that is a favorite of many in Wilkes County and surrounding areas. Everyone goes to Harold’s for the food, the reputation of home cooked meals, and to see Harold Call, the owner. It is very typical to see Harold go from table to table, pulling up a chair and joining those who are dining in his restaurant. He knows the likes and dislikes, backgrounds, and stories of all who enter his doors. When Harold Call learned about Carolina in the Fall during its initial year four years ago, he was one of the first to volunteer to be a sponsor. He was anxious to see the new event succeed and willing for his successful and popular restaurant to be a sponsor of the festival. That sponsorship relationship has continued for four consecutive years since the start of the festival. The sponsorship commitment from Harold’s Restaurant is like no other sponsor relationship! Harold’s Restaurant not only provides the meals for musicians, staff members, and volunteers throughout the weekend festival, but Harold himself delivered those meals and brought part of his staff with him to serve the meals to the seemingly endless line of staff members and musicians. Harold consistently kept the serving line open for at least two hours to ensure that everyone had a chance to eat. Prior to the official opening of the festival each day, Harold delivered warm ham, sausage, and bacon biscuits to the festival site to help volunteers and staff members start out the day. When the festival was over and the crowds had left, Harold delivered an additional meal and served the volunteers and staff members who were exhausted after cleaning up the festival grounds. Harold’s Restaurant is truly deserving of the Carolina Showfest Sponsor of the Year Excellence Award.
• Associate of the Year for Dan Eller of Party Time Rentals in Charlotte, NC. An excerpt from the award recognition follows: Party Time Rentals, Inc provides an invaluable service to the festival industry. Carolina in the Fall, a relatively new festival, continues to rely heavily on the expertise of the Party Time Rentals, Inc staff for development of the plans and necessary changes to the festival site. Party Time Rentals Inc has earned a reputation as a high-quality rental company with a tremendous inventory and experienced event planners for Charlotte and the Carolinas. Dan Eller, owner, and his staff at Party Time Rentals willingly work with event and festival planners to help develop festival layouts, search the company’s inventory to create running lists of tents, tables, staging, fencing, chairs, concession items, etc. that can be utilized during festivals and events, and even provide CAD drawings of tent layouts for placement of staging, tables, and chairs to provide maximum seating for each venue. Dan Eller has such expansive expertise in preparing festival grounds because Party Time Rentals, Inc is contracted to work at many venues including race tracks, stadiums, convention centers, downtown streets, parks, and, particularly, festivals. His outstanding knowledge of planning venues greatly influenced festival logistics for Carolina in the Fall such as planning for the flow of pedestrian traffic, vendor area set-up, children’s area layout, and the main stage and sound engineering control area.

Feb 20 2006
Carolina in the Fall is Award Winning Festival - AGAIN!

The Carolina in the Fall Festival has been recognized for the third consecutive year for excellence in the festival industry. The North Carolina Association of Festivals and Events recently held the annual conference and Showfest in Charlotte, North Carolina. During the Awards Luncheon on the final day of the conference, the Carolina Showfest Excellence Awards were presented for the 2005 calendar year. Festivals and events from across North Carolina competed in different categories. The NCAF&E Board noted that there was a record number of nominations which made the awards process was considerably more competitive this year.

The Carolina in the Fall Festival, held on the Shepherd Farm off of Armory Road in North Wilkesboro, October 14-16, 2005 was the winner of four awards.

• Best Website for the festival website that was re-designed prior to the 2005 festival to promote a more user-friendly format that more closely resembled the quality of Carolina in the Fall. The website is www.CarolinaInTheFall.com
• Best Miscellaneous Printed Material for the festival program that was available during Carolina in the Fall free of charge to all festival attendees. The program contained Festival Greetings from the Festival Hosts and the Musical Hosts; the Stage Schedule; Petey's Place Children's Area Schedule; detailed information about each musician; sponsor information, vendor information, special activities information; and, a special thank you to specific volunteers.
• Best Sponsorship Packet for cultivation of relationships with potential sponsors to ensure that both the festival and the individual or business mutually benefit from the sponsorship endeavor.
• Best Press Kit which includes Press Releases and communication with various Media Representatives for promotional articles and/or interviews.

David Culler was nominated by the Carolina in the Fall Festival Organizers for the Volunteer of the Year Award. An excerpt of his award nomination explains the scope of David Culler's dedication and commitment to Carolina in the Fall:

David Culler's seemingly continual presence at the festival site began the week prior to the festival and David's efforts in helping festival organizers prepare for the festival were amazingly dedicated. Because David Culler works in the medical profession, his volunteer responsibilities during the festival included the First Aid area. Thankfully, there were few needs for medical attention during the festival and David's time was filled with other responsibilities. From musician transportation to stocking concession stands to meal deliveries for staff, David willingly proceeded with any task asked of him. Throughout the event, The Kruger Brothers, who are the Musical Hosts of the festival, recognized and commented on David Culler's dedication as a volunteer. Everyone who knows David is aware of his admiration for music and his love of playing the guitar and singing. On the last day of the event, The Kruger Brothers arranged with the Festival Director Brenda Shepherd to surprise David Culler as a special thank you for all of his work. During the last stage set, Brenda radioed David Culler and asked him to join her on-stage to relax and enjoy the last couple of hours of music since he had only had a limited opportunity to listen to music during the festival. After sitting on-stage for a couple of songs, David was called up front to the microphone and asked to join in playing and singing. His look of shock was priceless as he happily picked up a guitar, began strumming and sang a solo on-stage with The Kruger Brothers accompanying him. At that moment, David Culler's involvement in Carolina in the Fall had come full circle. He became involved in the festival because he loved the music and wanted to promote the festival. After three years of involvement and many days of extremely hard work, David was singing on stage with his musical heroes and his appreciation for the music was never more obvious.

Carolina in the Fall also nominated Wilkes Regional Center's New Beginnings Birthing Center as Sponsor of the Year for the new sponsorship relationship established between the WRMC New Beginnings Birthing Center and the festival.

As a result of the sponsorship, Petey's Place, the children's area, was expanded and the schedule was designed to allow children to visit during the regular festival schedule. Children of all ages were encouraged to join in the fun with face painting, carnival games, crafts, puppet shows, storytime, and special performances, all of which were provided free of charge to children of all ages. Children could attend the activities alone or with their parents and many families felt comfortable leaving their children in Petey's Place during activities while others attended together and made it a family event. The collaboration between Wilkes Regional Medical Center's New Beginnings Birthing Center and the Carolina in the Fall Festival enabled the festival to meet a festival goal of providing a family-atmosphere event.

Dan Eller of Party Time Rentals, Inc was nominated for Associate of the Year, for his efforts in assisting with site development and optimal use of the festival grounds. Dan Eller is originally from North Wilkesboro and now lives in Charlotte where he owns and operates his rental business. Party Time Rentals Inc has earned a reputation as a high-quality rental company with a tremendous inventory and experienced event planners for Charlotte and the Carolinas. An excerpt from the nomination illustrated the ways Dan Eller contributed to the success of Carolina in the Fall:

In planning the Third Annual Carolina in the Fall festival, organizers automatically included Dan Eller of Party Time Rentals, Inc in the process. He consistently provided suggestions in the site development and optimal use of festival grounds. With Dan's leadership, plans for the festival site quickly took shape. Dan Eller has such expansive expertise in preparing festival grounds because Party Time Rentals, Inc is contracted to work at many venues including race tracks, stadiums, convention centers, downtown streets, parks, and, particularly, festivals. His outstanding knowledge of planning venues greatly influenced festival logistics for Carolina in the Fall such as planning for the flow of pedestrian traffic, vendor area set-up, children's area layout, and the main stage and sound engineering control area.

Plans are underway for the Fourth Annual Carolina in the Fall Festival which is described as more of a celebration and will be held October 21, 2006. The Festival is hosted by Robert and Brenda Shepherd on the Shepherd Farm off of Armory Road in North Wilkesboro. The Kruger Brothers are the Musical Hosts of the Festival and, together with the Shepherds, they are extremely excited to present the celebration format of the festival this year. Special plans for the new format of the festival will be announced soon. Tickets and information are available by calling 336-667-5344 or by visiting the website: www.CarolinaInTheFall.com


Feb 2 2005
Carolina In The Fall wins 7 NCAF & E Awards

The Carolina in the Fall Festival has been recognized for the second consecutive year for excellence in the festival industry. The North Carolina Association of Festivals and Events held a joint conference with South Carolina Festival and Events Association in Greenville, SC in February, 2005.
During the Awards Luncheon on the final day of the conference, the Carolina Showfest Excellence Awards were presented for the 2004 calendar year. Festivals from across North Carolina and South Carolina competed in different categories.
With a combined, two-state conference, the awards process was considerably more competitive this year.

The awards presented to Carolina in the Fall are:

Event of the year 2004, Carolina in the Fall
The most prestigious award bestowed upon Carolina in the Fall is Event of the Year. The festival's mission statement, goals, event budget, promotional campaign, communications programs, merchandising, special programs, and volunteer base are analyzed in consideration of this award.
Monica Shepherd, Director of Marketing and Publicity for Carolina in the Fall, noted, "This is quite an accomplishment for such a young festival. Carolina in the Fall competed against festivals that have been established for almost 30 years for the recognition of Event of the Year. We are ecstatic that our festival was rewarded for its commitment to providing an excellent musical program in a family-atmosphere environment."

Director of the Year 2004, Brenda Shepherd
Brenda Shepherd was recognized as Director of the Year for the second consecutive year. During her long history of involvement with festivals and events, Brenda Shepherd has developed quite a knowledge base and is considered an expert in festival planning and organization. From the earliest development stages of planning Carolina in the Fall, Brenda Shepherd's efficient style ensured that each aspect of the festival would be considered all the way down to the tiniest detail. As the Festival Director, Brenda's duties included coordinating everything from the stage schedule of musical performers, to Box Office ticket sales, to securing sponsors, to collaboration with local agencies including the Town of North Wilkesboro and the North Wilkesboro Police Department. Every single aspect of the festival was positively influenced by Brenda. Festival organizers described Brenda's leadership style with a summative remark, "Most Festival Directors reside in an office and delegate different tasks to other employees or volunteers. Although Brenda understands the art of delegation, she also understands that a leader leads through example. She models her work ethic daily and staff members half her age cannot keep up with Brenda's pace. It is truly amazing to see her in action."

Associate of the Year 2004, Party Time Rentals, Inc
Dan Eller of Party Time Rentals, Inc was named Associate of the Year 2004, nominated by the Carolina in the Fall Festival for his efforts in assisting with site development and optimal use of the festival grounds. Dan Eller is originally from North Wilkesboro and now lives in Charlotte where he owns and operates his rental business. Party Time Rentals Inc has earned a reputation as a high-quality rental company with a tremendous inventory and experienced event planners for Charlotte and the Carolinas. In planning the Carolina in the Fall festival, organizers automatically included Dan Eller of Party Time Rentals, Inc in the process.

Best Brochure for the festival brochure that is published and distributed prior to the festival.

Best Sponsorship Packet for cultivation of relationships with potential sponsors to ensure that both the festival and the individual or business mutually benefit from the sponsorship endeavor.

Best Press Kit which includes Press Releases and communication with various Media Representatives for promotional articles and/or interviews.

Best T-Shirt for the orange tie-dyed t-shirt with the Carolina in the Fall logo screen printed on the front. Festival Organizers were pleased to recognize Brad and Renee Simmons of LogoPros of Charlotte, NC, who provide all festival merchandise and remain on-site during the festival to staff the Festival Merchandise booth.