A house RESOLUTION

 

TO CELEBRATE THE FORTIETH SOUTH CAROLINA POULTRY FESTIVAL, TO BE HELD MAY 6 THROUGH MAY 9, 2026, IN BATESBURG-LEESVILLE AND TO HONOR THOSE PLANNING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE FESTIVAL.

 

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that the South Carolina Poultry Festival will celebrate its fortieth anniversary at this year's festival in Batesburg-Leesville from May 6 through 9, 2026; and

 

Whereas, employing thousands of citizens, South Carolina's billion-dollar poultry industry annually produces, processes, and markets vast amounts of eggs, broilers, and turkeys; and

 

Whereas, Lexington, Saluda, and Aiken counties serve as home to some of the state's top broiler producers, including such household names as Amick Farms, Columbia Farms, and Gentry Poultry Company; and

 

Whereas, in 1986, Batesburg-Leesville restaurant owner Sara Shealy hatched the idea of a poultry festival based in Lexington County to showcase the state's largest agribusiness, and the Leesville Merchants Association created a festival from her proposal; and

 

Whereas, one year later, the Ridge Poultry Festival was held, hosting approximately twenty thousand visitors. The event, which became the South Carolina Poultry Festival in 1989, is now the state's official poultry festival. In recent years, its attendance has exceeded one hundred thousand people; and

 

Whereas, today, the festival features multiple stages offering continuous entertainment, some thirty food vendors, a carnival, a parade with over one hundred units, and more than seventy commercial vendors and one hundred twenty crafters; and

 

Whereas, the event presents the best of Southern hospitality, with proceeds regularly supporting various local charities, organizations, and community causes while hosting the festival's own "#1 World's Best Chicken Cooking Contest"; and

 

Whereas, guests anticipate an impressive antique car and collector show, a five-kilometer road race, a volleyball tournament, and evening street dances; and

 

Whereas, this year, as a salute to America's two hundred fifty years of independence, as well as to the signing of the nation's Declaration of Independence, which inaugurated those two hundred fifty years, a spectacular display of the American spirit will conclude the festival on Saturday evening in one of the largest pyromusical shows available; and

 

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives commends the planners and participants of the fortieth annual South Carolina Poultry Festival, and the members appreciate the beneficial impact of the poultry industry on the economy of the Palmetto State. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, celebrate the fortieth South Carolina Poultry Festival, to be held May 6 through 9, 2026, in Batesburg-Leesville and honor those planning and participating in the festival.

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