Published: November 10, 2009 08:39 am      

Bandit spoils the bluegrass

HAHIRA — A South Georgia hoedown ended on a sour note Saturday when a thief walked off with a sign commemorating the festival.

The Great Hahira Pick-In was a one-day bluegrass jam on the site of a future Harveys Supermarket. Several thousand bluegrass fans descended on this spot about 30 miles north of the Florida border for 13 hours of traditional guitar, banjo and fiddle playing.

The supermarket commemorated the event with a historic marker presented to Hahira Mayor Wayne Bullard.

"It sat by the stage throughout the day," said Harveys public relations director Lisa Overman. "At some point in the evening, someone walked away with it. It cost $1,300, and we would like to have it back, no questions asked."

The Great Hahira Pick-In was an annual event for 16 years, drawing acts and fans from far away, many of whom camped at the site of the festival. The event ended after 1995, having never recovered from a rainy year.

Harveys Supermarkets gave the event a reprise before building a store in a commercial corridor. The supermarket chain, a Food Lion subsidiary, operates 70 stores in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.

Overman asked anyone with the sign to leave it at City Hall or contact someone with the city of Hahira.



Details for this story were reported by The Valdosta, Ga., Daily Times.