George Jebaily: Pecan Festival Sparked Florence’s Downtown Redevelopment

Pat Gibson-Hye Moore had no idea that when she and Jeanne Downing developed the idea to hold a festival in Florence that the idea would be credited 18 years later with igniting the city’s downtown revitalization. Florence Mayor Pro Tempore George Jebaily provided an overview of the history of the pecan festival at a news conference held Tuesday morning to mark the renaming of the festival as the South Carolina Pecan Music and Food Festival.  At end of the news conference, Gibson-Hye Moore said she didn’t have any idea what the festival would develop into, but she was excited to attend the announcement of the renaming and the 2021 festival. “Let’s go nuts, baby,” she said.

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