The St Michaels Business Association recieved some unfortunate news at thier monthly meeting on Thursday. Ms. Trond and Mr. Bushey were present to deliver the message from thier repected board members and executive director Jon Mason.
Since 2002, the St Michaels Food and Wine Festival Committee, under the leadership of Executive Director Jon Mason, has brought thousands of guests to this picturesque town on the Chesapeake Bay for one exciting weekend in April. Over the years, the Committee members have worked countless hours to create an event with regional, national and local appeal to introduce visitors to our fantastic town while also raising over $100,000 for local charities. The Festival has highlighted the immense culinary talent that exists within St Michaels and the surrounding towns of Easton, Oxford and Tilghman Island. Guest Chefs and Winemakers have shared this event with visitors and locals alike and enjoyed the wonderful backdrop we provide. The support of our partner businesses and sponsors has been invaluable and greatly appreciated.
Excellent weather and a great lineup of activities helped make the 2009 Festival one of our most successful, bringing over 2000 visitors to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, our host for the event. However the festival is experiencing two overwhelming challenges for 2010. As with most businesses and charities, the Festival has begun to experience a significant decrease in sponsorship dollars as a result of the struggling economy. In addition, the festival cannot produce an event of this size without a dedicated staff to execute this weekend. While each Committee member fully understands the importance of the Festival to our economy, we also understand that without sponsorship money and staff, we cannot continue to produce the Festival at the level that we reached in 2009.
Therefore, the 2010 St Michaels Food and Wine Festival has been cancelled. It is our hope that we will be able to resurrect this fantastic and beneficial event in the future perhaps in another format. Please continue to check back at our website for future plans.
Thank you again for your past support. The founding business owners who served as the executive board Members would like to thank you for helping us always start our summer season with such a successful event. They include: John & Bonnie Booth of Five Gables Inn & Spa, Sidney Trond of Gourmet by the Bay, The Inn at Perry Cabin, Mark Salter and Salter’s Chesapeake Gourmet, Jon Mason and Town Dock Restaurant, and Jeffrey Bushey of The Chesapeake Wood Duck Inn and Hungryfish Web Promotions. We wish you all the best and hope to see you in St Michaels in April anyway. It’s still a great time to visit!
Posted on September 18th, 2009 by Tilghman Guy
Filed under: General
Easton / Newman Field, MD