Actors from the Dream Chasers acting group portray Storm Troopers from the “Star Wars” movies. The actors were on hand as part of the entertainment from the 2007 Magnolia Festival.

By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



The City of Gardendale is inviting all north Jefferson County residents to be a part of the 2008 Magnolia Festival on April 19.

The seventh-annual festival is designed to raise money for college scholarships through vendor fees and sponsorships. “The proceeds benefit our north Jefferson County high school students,” said organizer Kathleen Phillips. “This is not just a Gardendale event. It’s great for the entire regional community.”

Phillips said the festival also offers a way for businesses and non-profit organizations to help themselves financially through the business expo and vendor booths.

“It’s great to have businesses and groups like Gardendale girls softball promoting themselves, having fun and making a little extra money for their organization,” she said.

This year, the festival’s goal is to offer something for every person in a family.

“Our events center around what you want your family to enjoy,” Phillips said. “Every festival has its theme, and the Magnolia Festival centers around us being the total family experience.”

For the kids, the event will offer carnival and pony rides, face painting and inflatables. There will be an array of arts and crafts for moms and a classic car show for the dads.

There will also be a variety of carnival food at the event, including Texas corndogs, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, funnel cakes and cotton candy.

A new feature of this year’s festival will include a “Pooch Parade,” giving a chance for residents to display their canine companions. A dog contest will follow the parade on the amphitheater stage.

The amphitheater will also play host to entertainment from the Alabama Blues Brothers and Riverboat John with the “All-American Music and Story Show.”

The festival will also be expanding its borders this year and will take to the streets. A portion of Main Street will be blocked off to feature more vendors. Phillips said having more vendors on the street will also allow for more room in front of the amphitheater.

Another event at the festival is the ever-popular eating contest. In years’ past, competitors have had to eat as many hot dogs or moon pies as possible in the allotted amount of time.

Phillps said this year’s contest will be sponsored by Bud’s Best Cookies and Barbers Dairy. “It’s going to be a cookie-eating contest,” Phillips said. “They’ll get to wash their cookies down with milk.”

Phillips promised “fabulous prizes” to the winners.

However, the real prize of the Magnolia Festival are the college scholarships. Last year, the festival gave away 10, $1,000 scholarships to local high school seniors.

Two of last year’s recipients, Zach Smith and Kaci Larsen, said the scholarships were a big help in offsetting college expenses.

Larsen, a graduate from Gardendale High School, is pre-med at Auburn University. She said the Magnolia Festival scholarship helped her out with tuition and expenses.

“I never realized how expensive college can be,” Larsen said. “Books are ridiculous. I spent $700 on books last semester.”

Smith, a Mortimer Jordan graduate, is currently taking business classes at the University of Alabama at Birmingham with plans on becoming an accounting major. He said the scholarship also helped out with his book expenses.

“The scholarships at UAB don’t apply toward books,” Smith said. “They tell you it applies, but it doesn’t. It also went toward meal plans. … It was very beneficial.”

Phillips said the goal was to give away the same amount in scholarship money this year, after overhead expenses for the festival. She said securing sponsorships is vital to the success of the event.

She said interested sponsors have one more week to become a sponsor. Information on becoming a sponsor or being a vendor can be found at the festival’s Web site, www.magnoliafestival.org.