2022 Blues & BBQ raises more than $20,000

  • The Ferst Foundation, which provides books free of charge to some of Fannin’s youngest children, received a $3,500 donation thanks to the Blues & BBQ Festival. The free book effort is a project of the Kiwanis Club of Blue Ridge. Accepting the check from festival organizers were, from left, Steven Miracle and Troy Shirbroun of the Kiwanis Club and festival organizers Paul Gribble, Greg Spencer and Dena Martin.
    The Ferst Foundation, which provides books free of charge to some of Fannin’s youngest children, received a $3,500 donation thanks to the Blues & BBQ Festival. The free book effort is a project of the Kiwanis Club of Blue Ridge. Accepting the check from festival organizers were, from left, Steven Miracle and Troy Shirbroun of the Kiwanis Club and festival organizers Paul Gribble, Greg Spencer and Dena Martin.
  • Habitat for Humanity was one of the recipients of the donations presented to local organizations thanks to the 2022 Blues & BBQ Festival sponsored by the Blue Ridge Lodging Association. Habitat homes traditionally provide shelter for families or single parents with children. Thomas Arp left, accepted the $5,000 check from festival coordinators Dena Martin, Paul Gribble and Greg Spencer.
    Habitat for Humanity was one of the recipients of the donations presented to local organizations thanks to the 2022 Blues & BBQ Festival sponsored by the Blue Ridge Lodging Association. Habitat homes traditionally provide shelter for families or single parents with children. Thomas Arp left, accepted the $5,000 check from festival coordinators Dena Martin, Paul Gribble and Greg Spencer.
  • Fannin County Deputy Sheriff and School Resource Officer Commander Lieutenant Darvin Couch, second from left, accepted a check for $3,000 toward Fannin County Shop With A Cop from Blues & BBQ coordinators, from left, Dena Martin, Paul Gribble and Greg Spencer.
    Fannin County Deputy Sheriff and School Resource Officer Commander Lieutenant Darvin Couch, second from left, accepted a check for $3,000 toward Fannin County Shop With A Cop from Blues & BBQ coordinators, from left, Dena Martin, Paul Gribble and Greg Spencer.
  • The 2022 Blues & BBQ festival raised more than $20,000 to be given to local charities that work to take care of area children. Here, Blues & BBQ organizers, from left, Dena Martin, Paul Gribble and Greg Spencer present a check for $6,840 to Snack in a Backpack Director Deby Beck and several of the volunteer who work with the organization. Snack in a Backpack provides food for Fannin County during the school year to take home on weekends and during tyhe summer thorough a cooperative effort with several local
    The 2022 Blues & BBQ festival raised more than $20,000 to be given to local charities that work to take care of area children. Here, Blues & BBQ organizers, from left, Dena Martin, Paul Gribble and Greg Spencer present a check for $6,840 to Snack in a Backpack Director Deby Beck and several of the volunteer who work with the organization. Snack in a Backpack provides food for Fannin County during the school year to take home on weekends and during tyhe summer thorough a cooperative effort with several local
  • The Fannin County Children’s Fund, administered by the Fannin County School System, received a $3,500 donation thanks to the 2022 Blues & BBQ Festival that is a project of the Blue Ridge Lodging Association. The fund helps school youngsters with a variety of needs. Shown during the presentation of the check are, from left, Greg Spencer, Fannin County High School Principal Scott Ramsey, children’s fund representative Tara Cantrell, Paul Gribble and Dena Martin.
    The Fannin County Children’s Fund, administered by the Fannin County School System, received a $3,500 donation thanks to the 2022 Blues & BBQ Festival that is a project of the Blue Ridge Lodging Association. The fund helps school youngsters with a variety of needs. Shown during the presentation of the check are, from left, Greg Spencer, Fannin County High School Principal Scott Ramsey, children’s fund representative Tara Cantrell, Paul Gribble and Dena Martin.

    Donations of over $120,000 to local charities are the cornerstone of the success the annual Blues & BBQ Festival has brought to Blue Ridge and Fannin County since it began 11 years ago.

    Volunteers make this possible. “If not for the great volunteers in our community, the show simply could not go on,” Paul Gribble said recently.

    Gribble, along with Greg Spencer and Dena Martin, steer the annual event that had its beginnings in 2009 through the Blue Ridge Lodging Association.

    From there, the festival passed the $100,000 mark in donations to local charities in 2021, it’s 10th year. The 2022 event added more than $20,000 to that amount.

    Gribble remembers the lodging association being formed in 2008  by “some forward thinkers in the vacation rental industry,” and from there the festival was born.

    Blues & BBQ planning started in 2009.  Several of the vacation rental managers, members of the lodging association board, “Came together to collaborate an idea: What if we put on a unique event that brings together visitors along with locals, that have a love for excellent BBQ and Blues music, in a time when not many people were in town?,” was Gribble’s description of the festival’s origin.

    One of the next questions was how would the festival benefit the local community?
    That question produced two answers, Gribble said. The first being to bring visitors who would spend money locally, stay in cabins, and contribute taxes that would stay in the community. Next was the idea proceeds from the event itself would go toward local charities.

    “The focus for many years has been the children of Fannin County, and that continues,” Gribble said.

    Proceeds from 2022 were presented to Snack in a Backpack, Shop With A Cop, Fannin County Children’s Fund, The Ferst Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity.

    The festival, through its proceeds, has also given back to other events and the City of Blue Ridge.

    For example, the festival paid for the electrical panels in the downtown park area to be upgraded, owns both the metal and mesh fencing used by many other events, and paid for picnic tables in the downtown park.

    And the festival gets bigger and better every year, enabling organizers to give back more to the community.

    “Every year I am blown away by the amazing quality of the bands, sound system, stage and numerous stage bands,” Spencer said.

    “It’s an honor and privilege to have been involved every year since the beginning. And when the Honor guard presents the colors, and a gorgeous acapella version of our National Anthem is sung, I get goose bumps,” Spencer said.

    Besides saying thanks to the countless volunteers who help every year, Gribble also credited the City of Blue Ridge, the Fannin County Board of Commissioners, the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office and the Blue Ridge Police Department for their parts in the event.