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Friday festival aims to help children's hospital
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| By: ADAM NORTHAM, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
April 16, 2009 |
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The eighth annual Mississippi Gran Prix's party will begin pre-race Friday in downtown Brookhaven with a family-friendly festival aimed at raising money for the state's leading children's hospital.
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Gran Prix Festival Coordinator Joe Fleming said the myriad of events planned for a closed-off Cherokee Street beginning Friday at 4 p.m. will have the ultimate goal of raising $5,000 for the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital in Jackson. The medical institution treated around 1,400 Lincoln County children last year alone.
"We always want to make it a crowd-drawer," Fleming said. "We're not in it for the business, to make money, but to let ... the Blair. E Batson officials know the city of Brookhaven supports their hospital."
Before the festival proper begins after 5 p.m., there will be a ceremony for Blair E. Batson's 2008 champion and cancer survivor Colby Barrett, 11, of Brandon, who served as the Gran Prix's grand marshal last year. City and county officials are expected to be in attendance for the event which, also like last year, will see Fleming shave his head as a show of support for Barrett.
There is no admission fee to the Barrett welcoming party, and people are encouraged to attend.
Once the festival begins, it will offer plenty of activities for a small fee. Tickets to the event cost $15 and includebadmission to a cookout, live music, good seats for the Bank of Brookhaven Criterium race and lots of children's activities.
Tickets are available at the festival or in advance at Bank of Brookhaven, The DAILY LEADER, Janie's Pastry Shop, Just Kiddin', Mr. Charley's Fun Jumps, Robenee's and the Human Performance Center.
For the kids, the festival will feature the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks laser gun tent, inflatable playpens and a basketball arena provided by Mr. Charley's Fun Jumps, Just Kiddin' of Brookhaven's Tricycle Gran Prix and hands-on art activities.
The festival will also feature live music from three Brookhaven acts - country singer Chad Simmons; newly formed group Aces High, who will be making their performing debut at the festival; and teenage country singer Kelsey Jackson.
For the adults, a drawing will be with the chance to win items such as a one-year membership to HPC, a remote-control John Deere bulldozer toy, a gas cooker, a Feather Touch T-6 fishing rod and a Playstation 3. The give-away items are on display in the booth at the Haven theater.
Fleming and Gran Prix officials are hoping for big crowds and big totals.
Race planners are hoping the three-day event will raise $100,000 for Blair E. Batson, with the festival itself aiming for $5,000. Donations will be accepted.
This year's effort is a continuation of last year's, when the Gran Prix was able to raise $30,000 toward the construction of a new emergency room at the hospital.
"Without the support and funding such as we put on here in Brookhaven, there wouldn't be a hospital our children could go to and get the best care," Fleming said.
As the festival goes on, the reason for the celebration - the Mississippi Gran Prix - will begin. The Bank of Brookhaven Criterium, a closed-circuit race around downtown, will begin at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the bike race will move to the country for its second event, the Human Performance Co. Road Race, which will see bikers complete three, 25-mile laps beginning at Heuck's Retreat Baptist Church, looping through Wesson and back.
The Just Kiddin' Time Trial will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, as bikers compete in a four-mile timed event beginning at Union Hall Baptist Church on Nola Road.
The 2009 race's final event - the Physiotherapy Associates Circuit Race - will be held Sunday at 7 a.m. The final event is a closed-circuit race around the campus of Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
Close to $20,000 in prize money will be awarded to the winners in various categories once the scored and times from the four events are tallied.
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©The Daily Leader 2009
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