Troy Gearing Up for Big Weekend
Troy officials are getting ready for one of the city’s biggest events. “When you come to TroyFest, it’s a great environment for families,” says TroyFest publicity chair Morgan Drinkard. “We have fun entertainment, wonderful festival food, incredible artists…” Ricky Steele of Panama City Beach, Florida is one of those artists. He’s been painting since 1981 and is a regular at TroyFest. “I’m called the emotional painter,” he says. “I do mostly people. I do strong emotional renderings.” And it’s not just downtown Troy that will see some action, Troy University also has plenty of events and activities planned. “We’ve got baseball and softball with home series,” says Troy University Athletic Director John Hartwell. “Baseball starts tonight and softball tomorrow. Then we’ve got our spring football game.” Hartwell says the school is expecting a great turnout. “We could have a crowd of five, six thousand folks here for our spring game and it’s an opportunity, not only for the local folks to get out and see some football action, but also for folks coming from out of town.” Although the threat of inclement weather is very low, Drinkard says the city is prepared for anything. “We’ll be here rain or shine. If there is inclement weather, severe weather, lightning, high winds…we have arranged for some indoor buildings to be available for us to move into and as soon as it passes, we’ll resume the festival.” Because it is such a big weekend in Troy, many are just hoping mother nature cooperates. “I like TroyFest,” Steele says. “The people are very friendly. The whole town is just a nice atmosphere. Troy, Alabama is a good place.”
