DELFEST MOVING AHEAD IN CUMBERLAND, MD

(Nashville, TN)...A collective sigh of relief came from DelFest co-founders Roy Carter and Rebecca Sparks, of California based High Sierra Music, and festival namesake Del McCoury in Nashville, when co-founder Stan Strickland informed them that the Allegany County commissioners had issued a press release, bringing to close to a controversy that began six weeks ago when Allegany County Liquor Board chairman Gerald Delaney claimed in the Cumberland Times-News that DelFest and the High Sierra Foundation had violated laws regarding their liquor license. The controversy began when Mr. Delaney called local High Sierra Foundation board member Barb Buehl, in which he threatened the festival's reputation, it's ability to secure a beverage license in the future, and Buehl's employment contract with County Tourism, all in an effort to benefit his former employer, a local beer distributor. A threat he followed through with in the Cumberland Times on June 3rd.



As a very public dispute unfolded, a local coalition of nearly 1400, dubbing itself the "Pale Ale Army," rose up en masse and began flooding county and state offices with calls, faxes, and emails, demanding an investigation and immediate action. The first step taken by the Allegany County commissioners, after determining with the state that they did in fact have the authority to act in this matter-and with the strong encouragement of the Governor-was to ask for Chairman Delaney's resignation. The resignation was offered to Governor O'Malley on July 9th, and accepted immediately. The second, and hopefully final, step was a press release, drafted by the county attorney, on behalf of the County Commissioners, clearly stating for the record that no complaint had ever been filed, no investigation had ever been initiated, and the Liquor Board has no intention of pursuing this matter. This confirmed the position DelFest had been taking since June 3rd. The County's press release went on to say that they were confident that once the DelFest Foundation applied for the 2011 liquor license, it would be approved as well as pledged their support of community resources to meet the needs of the festival.



"I do think a lot of good came from this. Over a thousand people are now involved in local government and local charitable work and have seen the impact they can have," offered Del McCoury, a clear indication that he sees better days ahead. "We might have walked away if it had not been for the overwhelming show of support from the community. We realized that they had made this their fight and we took that into consideration every step of the way." DelFest's Foundation will be working hand in hand with the "Pale Ale Army" in August as they distribute more than $20,000 to local charities.



The DelFest founders, county officials, and local community leaders are all now in agreement on one thing-its time to move ahead. That's exactly how Del McCoury brought the July 15th phone conference to an end, "well folks, I guess we are headed back to Cumberland." The co-founders in California and Florida swear you could hear him smile.