Letter to the Editor: Call to save the Annual Peaches to the Beaches Yard Sale

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Dear Editor,

We are writing this letter with the hope that an annual event that brings thousands of visitors each year to Perry can be saved.

Since 2005, Golden Isles Parkway Association has sponsored the Annual Peaches to the Beaches Yard Sale the second Saturday of the year with the goal of promoting tourism and economic development to the communities located along Highway 341. Golden Isles Parkway Association (GIPA) utilizes a vast advertising campaign to promote Peaches to the Beaches Yard Sale. This campaign includes print, radio, digital, and direct mail advertisements aimed at tourists across the United States.

GIPA pays for these advertisements through the vendor fees collected at each official sites during Peaches to the Beaches Yard Sale. The communities keep half of the vendor fees to advertise next year’s Peaches to the Beaches within their communities, and GIPA collects half the vendor fees to continue their advertising efforts for the next year’s event. GIPA is comprised of volunteers dedicated to promoting the vast potential for tourism along Highway 341; as such, no organization profits from any vendor fees collected during Peaches to the Beaches.

Communities, however, profit from increased tourism revenue such as hotel/motel tax collection, food and entertainment sales, and fuel sales. Thousands of people travel Highway 341 during Peaches to the Beaches, and the communities reap the economic benefit through increased revenue generated by tourism.

Unfortunately, as more large unofficial sites pop up along Highway 341 during Peaches to the Beaches, recruiting vendors to participate at the official sites is becoming increasingly more difficult. Within the last three years alone, GIPA’s advertising budget has decreased by over 1/3.

If the current trend continues, Peaches to the Beaches Annual Yard Sale will end, along with all the many benefits it brings to the participating communities.

Please, if you love Peaches to the Beaches Annual Yard Sale, support it and your community by participating at an official site as a vendor, purchase an official tee shirt, and most of all, support the vendors by shopping at the official sites. For more information on how to participate, go to www.peachestothebeaches.com.

Sincerely,

Paula Rogers

McRae/Telfair Co. Chamber of Commerce

President, Golden Isles Parkway Association

Phone: (229) 868-6365

Kimberly Brown

Hawkinsville Chamber of Commerce

Vice-President, Golden Isles Parkway Association

Phone: (478) 783-1717

Sheila Jones

Perry Area Convention and Visitors Bureau

Secretary, Golden Isles Parkway Association

Phone: (478) 988-8000

Rebecca F. McWilliam

Eastman/Dodge Co. Chamber of Commerce

Treasurer, Golden Isles Parkway Association

Phone: (478) 374-4723

HHJ News

Letter to the Editor: Call to save the Annual Peaches to the Beaches Yard Sale

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Letter to the Editor: Call to save the Annual Peaches to the Beaches Yard Sale

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