October 1, 2020 - The 44th Annual East Texas Poultry Festival opening ceremonies were held this morning on the Frances Oates Stage under the big tent for the first time at the John D. Windham Civic Center and past Poultry Festival royalty returned to the hen-house to officially open the festival with the cutting of the feather boa. Past Queens attending were Shana Bowen Brittain (1984), Terrie Moore Elliot (1988), Macayla Perry Hill (2013), Madelynn Hutchins (2016), and Kristen Orsak (2019). The current year's Poulty Festival Queen's Court which usually does the cutting of the feathers was unavailable due to the Chamber having to postpone the Queen's Pageant activities.
Shana Brittain (center) enjoyed the honor of cutting the feathers with Macayla Hill (left) and Terrie Elliot (right).
Josh Payne, ETPF Chairman, welcomed everyone to the festival which is presented by Farmers State Bank, "I just want y'all to know that we almost didn't have this this year but we met and decided this community needs it. We just trust that everybody will be responsible and we think everybody will have a great time. We couldn't ask for better weather."
Payne then thanked Focused Care of Center for sponsoring the opening ceremonies and gave thanks and appreciation to the Poultry Festival steering committee. He next introduced Malcolm Monroe, the new pastor at First United Methodist Church, who then gave the invocation, followed by the Center High School band who performed the National Anthem under the direction of Chris Smith.
Opening ceremonies missed several key ingredients due to COVID-19 limiting the ability of some to participate including the Timpson kindergarten students who have led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance for years at the festival. The show must go on and thanks to Shelby Chick the Pledge of Allegiance was honored at the event.
Shelby County Judge Harbison then gave a welcoming speech, "This festival brings all the people of the county together to celebrate the poultry industry which is a vital part of the county's economy." She ended by challenging everyone to make the world a better place to live urging everyone to be diligent during the festival to practice social distancing, wear your mask especially in a crowd, be kind, be respectful, be safe, be smart, be responsible and to remember the life you save may be your own or someone that you love.
David Chadwick, City of Center Mayor and President of Farmers State Bank, addressed those in attendance, "Quite a different group than we are used to seeing today but you know what? It still has the same excitement that we have had for 44 years." He commended the success and perseverance of the Poultry Festival and those who organize it each year.
Mayor Chadwick then gave an update on construction downtown which more than halfway complete and looks forward to the festival returning to downtown next year. "This is a year for adjustment and we have certainly adjusted to a different location with different rules and the Judge listed all the things that we need to do to take care of ourselves. But the one thing that we don't have to adjust is how much we enjoy one another. We are here to have a good time, we are here to be wise with what we do and we are here to celebrate East Texas to the fullest. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Enjoy."
