Where do we start?

At this point in time, 9 months before the event, we are in the "pre-planning" stage. This means we are throwing around ideas, looking at prospective bands and improving our event site.

Myself and niece Evelynn, 3rd Annual
(photo by Ashley Hays)

In years past I have taken on a lot of the responsibility of planning the entire event. I am always strung out thin by the day of the event and it's all that I can do to stay upright after 10pm. Last year I took the initiative to pass on some of the responsibilities to a few of my very trusted friends and family, it seemed to work!

I am planning to do the same this year. I will have someone in charge of booking the bands and keeping in contact with them...an entertainment manager if you will. I will have a staff manager and a general contractor type of person as well as someone to manage the gate and parking. This leaves me with putting it all together and hopefully being able to have a little bit of fun on the day of the event!

Nothing has been nailed down for the 5th Annual...we are very open to ideas and suggestions!

Some of the improvements we plan to make this year include a permanent stage, more space for activities and a better setup all around. Like I said, if there is something you would like to suggest about ANY aspect of the event....feel free to leave comments here or on my facebook page!

As of now...not a lot is going on besides a few excited phone calls and text messages between myself and my managers. If you would like to get ahold of the staff manager or entertainment manager, please let me know and I will get you in contact with them! We are always looking for volunteers!


Ashley setting up the kids' games!
(photo by Alyssa Hays)

I would also like to throw out the idea of a tshirt design contest! As a professional designer, I have taken on the task of creating the marketing materials and tshirt design in years past...but would like to keep the idea open of maybe doing a tshirt design contest for the 5th Annual! I think it would be a great way to keep everyone involved in the planning process!

We will be hosting a few bake sales this summer to raise money for startup costs involved with the event! They will be at the Quietside Quick Shop in Roach, Mo over the Memorial, 4th of July and Labor Day weekends! Please take a few minutes to run out there and grab a tasty homemade treat and support our great cause!

As you can probably tell...there is a ton of work that goes into planning a single day event. Months and months of preparation for one day of fun! I am dedicated to making the 5th Annual FLO Fest the best one yet!

I am asking each of you to tell 5 people about FLO Fest in hopes that we can make it to the 200 mark for attendees this year!!

Thank you for your continuing support! Can't wait to see you in October!

A Reflection...

Many of you know who the woman behind the cutain is...but many of you don't. So please allow me to intoduce myself!

My name is Freddie Sparks and I will be turning 24 in about a week. I was born at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo and lived there for the first 22 years of my life. I grew up in a close immediate family, with my Mom, Dad and sister, Gena. Most of my mom's side of the family lived within 10 miles of us so we were naturally close to our cousins and grandparents. Still to this day, my cousins are my best friends.

But FLO Fest isn't about me, or about any of my cousins. It is about one man, Freddie Lee Osborn, my Papa!


Freddie Lee Osborn

Papa was a simple man, who never needed much nor had much. His most prized possessions were his family and his stories. He loved music and spending time with his grandkids (there are 13 of us, so he had plenty!). He grew up as the eldest of 4 children. He worked much of his childhood, many times giving all of his earnings to help his family. His mother, my Granny G., was also a great influence in my life.

I miss my Papa more than I could ever put into words...so I will not try. He departed from this life in April of 2007 after a long battle with lung cancer.

After Papa passed away, my Aunt Sherri (the 3rd in line of his 6 children), came to us with an idea to help those who had suffered a loss like ours...and to try to prevent it from happening in the future. We decided we would join the Relay for Life.

We participated in the Relay for 2 years before we decided we wanted to do something bigger! We wanted to concentrate our efforts into one big event where we could raise a lot of money! We also wanted to raise money for a more direct cause. We weren't sure exactly who or how the American Cancer Society was helping...so we chose St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as our benficiary. Papa loved children...and we thought who better to benefit than the young children who hadn't really experienced life yet.

So formed FLO Fest, Papa's initials an inspiration to the name (thanks to my clever sister!). We would hold the event on the farm where Papa was born and where his ashes are laid. Our plan was to have music, food, kids games and a bonfire!

The first year was a little rocky, it was planned in less than 2 months after we had already participated in the Relay for Life that year! We had a turnout of about 75 people...not bad for something that was only advertised for about 2 weeks before it happened. We had 2 official bands and some of my friends entertained us with a jam session for the rest of the night! We had a huge bonfire and carved about 60 pumpkins to decorate with! In my opinion, the first year was the hardest to plan as we had nothing to go off of but our ideas.

The second year was better, we had about 100 people show up! It was planned better and we moved the location down the road a bit to house our extra guests! We booked 4 bands and again had a huge bonfire! All in all it was success!




2nd Annual FLO Fest (photo by Cara Johnson)

  The third year was tremendous! We started a few new traditions, including the lighting of 50 sky lanterns! We had around 150 guests and 6 bands! A great bonfire again that year!

The fourth year was also a huge success! We had about 175 attendees and 8 bands!

I will highlight more of each year as I blog along through the planning of the 5th Annual FLO Fest! Thank you all for reading, if you have any questions or ideas for future blogs, please let me know!!