First State Bank, Merchants National Bank, NCB team up to sponsor Festival of the Bells stage
First State Bank, Merchants National Bank and NCB each presented $3,500 to the Festival of the Bells committee Wednesday at Crossroads Park. Pictured (l-r) are Festival committee vice president Tiffany McCoy; Lauren Hamilton, Ellie Zint, Ashlee Mattingly, Julia Dodds and Diana Setty of First State Bank; Festival committee president Tom Zile; Jake DeHart, Denise Fauber, Paul Pence, Jessica Wells and Bertha Hamilton of Merchants National Bank; Heather Cummings and Tessa Gaines of NCB; and Jodi Murarescu, both of NCB and the Festival committee. (HCP Photos/Caitlin Forsha)
Festival of the Bells committee president Tom Zile, vice president Tiffany McCoy and treasurer Jodi Murarescu accepted $3,500 contributions from First State Bank, Merchants National Bank and NCB Wednesday, June 5, as all three banks are sponsoring the entertainment stage for the 2024 Festival.
This year’s Festival will be held July 4-6 with the theme “Small Town American Dream,” at Crossroads Park, the green space on West Main Street in Hillsboro. The group gathered at the park Wednesday morning to present the donations.
The three banks have been sponsoring the main stage at the festival since 2017, as the committee recognized the banks for their continued generous support of the festival.
“Thank you,” Zile told the group. “We appreciate it so much.”
Those presenting donations Wednesday were:
• Julia Dodds, Lauren Hamilton, Ashlee Mattingly, Diana Setty and Ellie Zint of First State Bank. Setty is also a member of the Festival of the Bells committee.
• Jake DeHart, Denise Fauber, Bertha Hamilton, Paul Pence and Jessica Wells of Merchants National Bank. Merchants is also sponsoring the annual Pet Parade this year at the festival, according to Hamilton.
• Heather Cummings, Tessa Gaines and Murarescu of NCB. Murarescu changed in and out of her Festival shirt to both accept and present donations.
“These are our big-time supporters, and they’re longtime supporters,” Murarescu said of the three banks.
Riley Clemmons will open this year’s festival on Thursday, July 4 as the featured Christian artist. Friday night’s concert will be performed by country artist Shane Profitt, and headlining the Festival on Saturday night will be country singer Tyler Braden.
“We’re ready for it,” McCoy said. “Our vendors are full. We have some new food booths this year, and we have more craft vendors.”
Along with food and craft vendors, there will be rides all three days of the festival.
As previously reported, a major change is the addition of a queens contest on Thursday, July 4, while the annual parade will now be moved to Saturday, July 6 instead of being held on the opening night of the festival.
McCoy said Wednesday that applications are available now, and they have opened the contest up to residents in Highland and surrounding counties (Adams, Brown, Clinton, Fayette, Pike and Ross). Anyone interested in competing in the contest should turn in their form by June 17. The inaugural Festival of the Bells queen will participate in events during the festival, including Saturday’s parade.
In addition to the aforementioned concerts and other events, fun activities such as the baby parade, cornhole tournament, 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a 5k run/kids dash and a car show are planned.
For the previous Festival announcement article, go to: https://highlandcountypress.com/news/committee-unveils-plans-2024-festi….
More information on this year’s Festival, including sponsorship opportunities, schedule announcements and other updates, can be found at the Festival website (https://www.thefestivalofthebells.com) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/festivalofthebells).
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