9-1-1 Festival begins Friday

HALEYVILLE    -  Just a few short days remain until the City of Haleyville’s annual 9-1-1 Festival and alumni festivities.
The 9-1-1 Festival Planning Committee assures this year’s festival, which will take place Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1, will be the biggest and best yet.  The fun will kick off Friday afternoon, with arts, crafts and food vendors and Kids’ Zone activities, as well as the 9-1-1 Festival concert Friday evening.
Vendors may begin setting up their booths as early as 10 a.m. Friday and must be set up and ready by 1 p.m., according to organizer Mandy Little.   All vendors’ spaces have already being sold for the festival, according to Little.
“We are full,” Little emphasized. “No more applications will be accepted.”

Friday, May 31
 
Little emphasized there will be a variety of both arts and crafts as well as food vendors

at the festival.
The Kids Zone, which provides inflatables such as a moon jump, slide, obstacle course and more, will open at 5 p.m.
The Haleyville Police Department will be operating a dunking booth near the Kids Zone this year, organizers said.
Also, live music from the main stage located in the large parking area behind the downtown public library will begin at 5 p.m. with Backdraft.  Very special presentations will be made to honor local and area first responders onstage at 6 p.m.
After the first responder awards are presented,  the concert will continue with Area 51 at 6:30 p.m., followed by Paul Thorn at 8 p.m. then headline act Rodney Atkins at 9:30 p.m.  See a separate article in today’s edition for more on the artists who will be performing.
After the concert ends, the public is invited over to the Heart of Haleyville Park on Main Street for the after party, where live entertainment will continue at 11 p.m. with the Rockin’ River Bottom Band.
“We’re looking for a great crowd,” stated festival committee member Kris Burleson. “We hope everyone will come out and enjoy the festivities.”
“Every year it gets better and better,” Little added.
The public is urged to come out and bring their portable chairs for the concert, organizers stressed.
“We are going to have the largest turnout we’ve had,” Mayor Ken Sunseri said.  “I am anticipating this for two reasons, one is the entertainment, the other is (the) International Harvester Tractor Show.”
International Harvester Collectors Alabama Chapter #23 is holding a meeting  Saturday, June 1, in Haleyville, and will have dozens of vintage and unique International Harvester tractors and implements on display.  For more on this, see the separate article in today’s edition.
I can see a lot of things happening, a lot of people here and different events going on simultaneously,” the mayor added.
A VIP tent will be set up behind the library, but near the stage for special seating for platinum, gold and diamond festival sponsors, organizers said.  The hospitality area, manned by festival committee members will be located in Cecil Batchelor Park across from the east end of Main Street and will be open both Friday and Saturday, organizers said.
“We are excited about it, as we always are,” stated Dr. Holly Sutherland, festival committee member.

9-1-1 T-shirts
on sale now

9-1-1 Festival T-shirts are available at BankFirst downtown for $20, according to Sutherland.
“If they want to buy a T-shirt and go ahead and get their correct size, they need to get that before the festival starts,” she stated.
T-shirts will also be on sale during the festival, organizers said.

Classic car show
benefits automotive program

Events Saturday, June 1, will kick off at 8 a.m. with the classic car show, sponsored by auto tech students with the Haleyville Center of Technology.
Automotive Instructor Steven Howard saidd registration will be from 8-11 a.m. at the large, open parking lot behind the library.
The entry fee for each vehicle is $25. Cars will be displayed throughout the parking area, with judging beginning at 12 p.m. and awards given out at 1 p.m. at the parking lot, Howard explained.
 Several awards will be given, including best in show for hot rod, truck, muscle car, cruiser and motorcycle, an overall winner, most unique, Skills USA choice, People’s Choice and Teacher’s Choice.
  O’Reilly Auto Parts gives the biggest prize of the day, as one of the key sponsors of the car shows.  The show is also sponsored by Howard Family Dentistry, Howard stated.
The show averages 50-60 vehicles of all styles and types and raises from $1,000-$1,500 for the auto tech program, which goes toward expenses associated with competitions and clubsponsored events, Howard explained.
“Come out and support the local students and automotive program. The more people that come out, the more support we have, the more funds we have to help students in the program,”  Howard said.
Arts, crafts and food vendors will open Saturday at 8 a.m., with the Kids Zone opening at 9 a.m., according to organizers.

Alumni/first
 responder parade

One of the main attractions Saturday, June 1, will take place at 10 a.m. The parade honoring alumni of Haleyville High School, as well as first responders will roll through the downtown streets.
The parade will line up with alumni floats meeting at the parking lot of Haleyville Elementary School at 9 a.m. First responder units iwill line up across 20th Street from the elementary school in the high school parking lot.
The parade entries need to leave the school no later than 9:50 a.m. in order to travel 20th Street to the area of CVS Pharmacy, where the high school band, as well as tractors from the tractor show will join the parade.
See the separate article in today’s edition for more on the parade and the alumni luncheon that follows it.

Entertainment at
Heart of Haleyville Park

The stage at the Heart of Haleyville Park downtown will be filled with talent throughout the day Saturday, including the North Alabama Dance Theatre Team at 9 a.m, Wendell and Shane at 10:30 a.m. and Singing with Grace at 11:30 a.m.
“We want to thank the city, all the workers and all the different departments that participate in helping us put the festival on,”  stressed committee member Jade Bice.
The city and the 9-1-1 Festival Committee would like to thank the following sponsors for the 9-1-1 festival:
 $5,000 sponsors: Free State Lumber, Guthrie’s Franchising Inc., Rowe Machinery Inc. and City of Haleyville;
$2,500 sponsors: Great Southern, First National Bank, BankFirst, Fontaine Trailer, KITH  Kitchens, Listerhill Credit Union, Haleyville Area Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Abrasive and Supply Inc., Encore Rehabilitation, Suburban Propane, Carl Cannon and Walmart;
$1,000 sponsors: Robinson and Sons Construction, Universal Forest Products, Aziz Oil, Exit Realty 9-1-1, Dixie Flower and Gifts, Goar’s, Alabama Title and Pawn, Inc., Cox’s Highway 195 Farm and Tire Supply, Lawson Real Estate, Family Medical Associates, Regional Builders Group (Winston Homebuilders), Timber Creek Housing and Oakbridge Insurance;
$500 sponsors: Pinkard Funeral Home, McGriff Tire Company, Serenity Sleep, Elliott True Value Hardware, Newburg Road Lumber, Manasco and Britton, Furniture Supply Company, UFP Distribution, The Cassady Company, Wood for You Furniture and Gifts, Simply Bunk Beds, Lowe, Mobley, Lowe and LeDuke, Pinnacle Bank, Rose Manor, Azalea Manor and Guthrie’s of Haleyville;
$250 sponsors: Banks Family Dentistry, Alfa Insurance, Freedom Fiber, iShine Designs and Glass House Car Wash.
The entire purpose of the 9-1-1 Festival is to honor first responders.  Haleyville is the birthplace 9-1-1, being the site where the first 9-1-1 call was placed in 1968.
“It’s a time to remember the value of our first responders,” emphasized Sunseri, “the police, the fire (departments), EMS, dispatchers.
“All these people work hard and diligently to protect us,” Sunseri pointed out. The mayor added it was important to honor first responders throughout the year, but especially at the 9-1-1 Festival.
The festival is sponsored by the Haleyville Area Chamber of Commerce and 9-1-1 Festival Committee.