LETTER: Native American fest canceled

It is with great regret that I send you this news but we need to make the people of Spencer County and Taylorsville aware that we will not be able to host a Native American festival this year.

We have hosted this event here in Taylorsville for the past 4 years and have struggled to raise the money each year to fund our festival. Through various fund raisers and the help of a sponsor, SAM’S Store of Elizabethtown, we have made it through 4 years. This year we lost SAM’S as a sponsor since they are so far away from Taylorsville. Last year, with Waterford Park not being available, we had to move the location to Taylorsville Elementary School. Many thanks go out to the Board of Education and TES for allowing us to hold our festival there. We had vendors and crafts people from as far away as Montana but the rain on that Saturday kept many local people away. The rain also caused conditions that created damage to the field from vehicles departing on Sunday. We, ORNAIC, paid for this damage to be repaired, but it took the remainder of our funds. We do wish to thank the Eagles Motel and On The Way Café for their continued support and help each of the last 4 years and we do intend to do our best to start the festival again next year. We hope to have another sponsor for next year but will welcome any and all community support since it costs approx. $4,000.00 to make this festival happen. We wish to thank all of you who came to our festival each year and hope you enjoyed the time you spent with us. We also hope to see you again next year as we will do all in our power to bring the “Spirit of the Warrior” festival back to Taylorsville next Oct. in 2011.

Jerry “2 Feather” Thornton

President of the Ohio River Native American Intertribal Community