In what might not be easy news for some, local citizen Scott Sharp announced last week he will be leaving his role as Manager of the Ellijay Apple Festival. Sharp, who also works at East Ellijay’s C&S Bank, has been the Manager of the Ellijay Apple Festival for the last 18 years.

He first applied with the Gilmer Chamber of Commerce to be the manager of the Apple Festival in 1994, because he wanted to volunteer with the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but said he ended up doing much more when he was offered the Manager role again in 1997.

“I just felt like it was the right time to go,”

he said, adding that while being the Manager of the Apple Festival is like having two-full time jobs, the deciding factor to leave came as a result of his father’s death earlier this year. Sharp’s father, Herbert Sharp, was also a volunteer at the Apple Festival each year.

“He loved helping with it every year,”

said Sharp.

While Sharp will surely be missed, he says his decision to leave doesn’t mean he won’t be stopping by from time to time, saying that his favorite thing each year about the festival is getting to see the festival’s exhibitors.

Since the Apple Festival is a board-driven non-profit organization, Sharp says he expects his position to be filled at the beginning of next year, however, considering the success of this year’s Apple Festival with almost 60,000 attendees, it will be hard to fill Sharp shoes.

The Apple Festival is a non-profit organization run by the Gilmer Chamber of Commerce and Ellijay Lions Club.