The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce announced its selection of \u201cBack in Bloom,\u201d submitted by Howard
Cusack of Florence, as the theme for the 116th Rhododendron Festival May 18-22, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe festival, with its carnival, Rhododendron Court, parades, classic car cruise, vendor fair, and flower show
serves as the unofficial kickoff to the summer tourist season here in Oregon\u2019s Coastal Playground,\u201d said Bettina
Hannigan, the Chamber\u2019s president and CEO. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait to be \u2018back in bloom\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am thrilled to make a contribution to the Chamber\u2019s always superlative efforts to present an event that merges
Americana, culture, art, and commerce with our amazing and unique floral landscape,\u201d said Cusack. \u201cI learned
very early in my career as a concert producer that that the keys to a successful show are a great lineup and a
relevant branding name. For example, in the summer of 1976, during our country\u2019s bicentennial, I produced an
event featuring Electric Light Orchestra, Steve Miller Band, Heart, J Geils, and several others. We called it \u201cThe
Freedom Jam\u201d and it caught the attention of a nation and drew 80,000 people from all over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cusack explained that \u201cIn this case, I tried to create a slogan that is simple, direct, immediate,\u00a0and memorable.
There\u2019s no doubt that the community has sorely missed both the event and the celebration of our legendary
rhodys so I was after something that might be a reminder of the rebirth of the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowie\u2019s is a great theme to signify the return of the Florence Rhododendron Festival after having to cancel it,
twice, for the first time since WWII,\u201d Hannigan added. \u201cI think it will lend itself to lots of fun and creativity for our
parades, civic displays, auxiliary events, and especially our marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGenerations of families have enjoyed the annual Florence Rhododendron Festival by attending, enjoying the
Davis Shows carnival, exhibiting their rhodys, showing off their classic cars and motorcycles, being in the parades,
and shopping and dining in Old Town and all around town,\u201d added Hannigan. \u201cIt\u2019s a family tradition, an Oregon
institution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Florence Rhododendron Festival is Oregon\u2019s second-oldest floral festival, bested only by a year by the
Portland Rose Festival, and sees thousands of visitors from around the state and across the country.
For more information on the annual Florence Rhododendron Festival, including applications for the
Rhododendron Court, exhibitor space, parade entries, or to volunteer on the Chamber\u2019s Rhody Fest committee,
contact event coordinator Mitzi Hathaway at Events@FlorenceChamber.com or 541-997-3128.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce announced its selection of \u201cBack in Bloom,\u201d submitted by HowardCusack of Florence, as the theme for the 116th Rhododendron Festival May 18-22, 2022. \u201cThe festival, with its carnival, Rhododendron Court, parades, classic car cruise, vendor fair, and flower showserves as the unofficial kickoff to the summer tourist season here…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[28],"yoast_head":"\n