Today we’d like to introduce you to Hope Follmer.
Hope, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It all began at the Dunwoody July 4th Parade. For years when my husband and I would take our three children to enjoy the celebration, we would run into neighbors Melanie and Jim Williams, and we would catch up on what was happening in each other’s lives.
Shortly after July 4, 2016, I got a call from Melanie saying that she was going to be co-president of the Dunwoody Preservation Trust (DPT) and asked if I like to be on this non-profit organization’s board.
I was honored to be asked, but after leaving the Ritz-Carlton, Downtown, as the director of public relations ten years prior to stay home with my three children, I was now back in the workforce full time. As the director of sales at a special events venue in Duluth, I was also juggling three kids in various school activities and being the merchandising rep and team mom to my son’s high school football team; But I didn’t skip too many beats before accepting the invitation.
I never realized that this simple offer would give me the chance to take such an active role in our community while also having the opportunity to do what I love. Starting off as secretary, I was asked the following year if I would produce their only fundraising event, The Lemonade Days Festival. For the past nine years, I have had the pleasure of leading the charge for this Dunwoody Signature Event that sees approximately 20,000 attendees during the five days of fun.
In addition to producing the festival, I have been able to enhance the lineup of activities to enjoy while giving back to our hood. The brainchild of Mark Gallegos of Dunwoody Music, The Dunwoody Idol singing competition was begun to give local young artists the chance to showcase their talent on stage to some 400 gathered. First begun by author Kathy Florence and now overseen by author Jan Slimming, the Dunwoody Author’s & Friends booth brings writers to the event for book signing and insight into their work. Two years ago, I began crowning an Honorary Ms. Lemonade Days Festival Queen. This now annual award is given to an individual who has worked tirelessly for the organization. The Honorary Ms. Lemonde Days is awarded a lemon-upped crown and sash, and festival goers can meet and snap a selfie with the queen in her photo booth.
It takes a village to make this fundraiser happen. I like to say that my job is done when the gates open, and Dunwoody Police Department directs the car and pedestrian traffic, and the volunteers from the check-in booth to the golf cart drivers ensure that all is running smoothly. I get to enjoy the smiles I see on hundreds of people’s faces, enjoying the amazing carnival rides, awesome food and drinks, and catching up with old friends and making new ones in a beautiful park in D-wood.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The Pandemic that began in 2020 gave me a few bumps in the road. Traditionally, the DPT Lemonade Days Festival is held the third week in April, but I postponed the event until August with the hope that it could still take place.
Many of our vendors rely on the revenue they make during the five days and for their livelihood, and while I wanted to move forward, it became evident for the safety of everyone involved and those attending that the festival would need to be canceled.
Each year, the festival t-shirt logos are selected from an art contest of over 400 entries from Peachtree Middle School. While the festival would happen in 2021, we were not able to be in the classrooms to select the art and were left without artwork for the 500 shirts that are typically given to our volunteers sponsors and sold to the public. To honor those art winners from 2020 and to produce the t-shirts, I came up with the idea to cross out 2020 and add 2021.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations from the University of Florida. And I will say that it is tough being a Gator in Bulldog country!
For the past 14 years, I have been the director of sales and a wedding specialist at the Payne-Corely House Special Event Venue in Duluth Georgia, and have had the pleasure of working with couples to secure their wedding with us and plan and direct their special day.
I feel very blessed to have had some amazing opportunities in my career to do what I love and at the same time to give back to my community of Dunwoody and to recognize individuals who have brought so much to our organization. I am very proud that others have believed in my abilities to add value to our festival and have embraced the Dunwoody Idol Contest and the Honorary Ms. Lemonde Days Award.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Integrity, honesty, and doing the right thing. I have tried to live my life both professionally and personally based on these traits, and that has not always been easy to define and sometimes harder to do.
I believe that there are no problems but rather opportunities. I am a solution driven and maybe that is why for me I feel that I have learned more from my failures than from my successes. My three children have been raised by the motto “That which does not kill us makes us stronger” and that phrase has served me well.
