Good-Bye Bike Rallies

OK, what’s done is done. We can not rewind the clock and make everything nice with the bikers. I think that we, as a community, need to move on and plan to attract business to our area in May (and other times of the year).

We need to attract people, people who don’t have kids in school in May. I would love to see us have a PGA tournament but have no idea how that would happen. I could see a sand sculpture competition or other beach centric attraction. Not enough surf for that unfortunately. Maybe Freestyle Park could do a mini X Games in May?

What I do think could work is a Myrtle Beach Food and Wine Festival, to rival Charleston, Miami, or Aspen. There is already a gourmet food and wine show planned for the convention center in may 2010 called Taste. The ACF is going to hold a culinary competition in conjunction and I have heard talk of a BBQ competition as well. I think that the restaurant community could join in; offering promotions for a 7-10 day period in participating restaurants and possibly do winemaker dinners as well. There could also be gala charity dinners with celebrity chefs, similar to the one at the High Museum Wine Auction that I catered for four years.

I, for one, am going to look forward and figure this out. The bikers are not coming back. I think the rallies will get smaller and smaller and die out. I saw the same thing happen with Freak-nik in Atlanta. Let’s embrace the future and plan for it so we can all succeed.