Cordele's Watermelon Festival and Parade

My next promotion led me to the little town of Cordele again, (which I never have a problem because almost my entire family lives there). Friday we had the opportunity to go up in hot air balloons again, but not only this I was also joined by the Chick-fil-A cow! It was glorious!! The site for the promotion was set up right beside I-75, so it attracted a lot of travelers heading south. My main job was to pass out watermelon to crowd and advertise the benefits of eating watermelon and also the upcoming Cordele watermelon festival. The next morning was the much anticipated Cordele Watermelon Parade. I have grown up going to this parade every year, so it really meant a lot to me to have the opportunity to ride in the parade. I rode in a red-hot watermelon themed convertible mustang, and was driven by my loving grandfather Tommy Mitchell (Love you Granddaddy!).

Thank you so much to Richard of Cordele’s Sunbelt Ford for letting us borrow the car! The rest of the day was filled with lots of watermelon fun. First we went to a luncheon that was attended by our State Representative Sanford Bishop, along with fellow GWA members Buddy and Margie Leger. Then we headed to the watermelon festival. Although I did not do my best at the watermelon seed-spitting contest, there were a bunch of people who did. Our winner spit a distance of about 25 ft!! I really appreciated everyone who came out to support us at this event, which included Mr. Rich Chastain, Pam and Rusty Autry, and my mom and sister, Janice and Ila Mitchell.

Our next event that day was the Sweet Melon Contest. We rounded up four different melons from surrounding growers, and I had the privilege of being the main judge in deciding who had the sweetest watermelon. We really appreciate all of the growers who donated a melon for the contest! Congratulations again to our winner Wavell Robinson!