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This story was published on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 and is seven or more days old. It is now available by direct access only to subscribers. If you send this link to a non-subscriber, they may not be able to access it.
Dale Springs and his wife plan to boycott the Dogwood Festival.
They’re telling their friends, too.
“A lot of the Fayetteville residents, as well as outside visitors, like to go to the festival every year,” Janet Springs writes in an e-mail, “but when I heard that they are not going to let churches have booths this year, well, as a Christian and a Fayetteville resident, I am very upset.”
Meet Carrie King.
She’s a wife.
She’s a mother.
She’s executive director of the Dogwood Festival that is scheduled for April 25-27 at Festival Park.
She’s got a date with the devil.
“I’ve gotten all kinds of e-mails that I’m going to hell,” says King, and she’s not even a voting board member.
The flap is over a decision by the Dogwood Festival’s board of directors not to allow churches or political organizations to rent informational booths.
“It’s not something new,” King says.
The policy dates back to the early 2000s, under some board members who have since resigned.
“There were complaints that some churches were too aggressive to their approach,” King says.
And frankly, King says, they didn’t abide by the rules and regulations that govern informational vendors.
Some were selling food.
Or giving it away.
Food vendors pay $750 for a booth.
Informational booths rent for $55.
Therein lies the heart of the issue.
That’s not equitable.
“It’s not like we are forcing people to attend our churches,” Springs says. “We just want to share our love for people, and share some good news, and I, for one, think that people need some good news nowadays.”

fayobserver.com