Ex-Farm Fest head defends self
“Mark Mackey”
Mark Mackey, the former Fredonia Farm Festival committee chairman, has vigorously defended himself in a letter to the OBSERVER as fallout over the event’s cancellation continues.
“All these people bashing me apparently don’t know the whole story or are turning a blind eye and just want to complain about something while using me as a punching bag,” Mackey wrote. “It’s time for me to say something.”
Mackey pointed out that the village of Fredonia government does not run the Farm Festival. Rather, it’s run by Festivals Fredonia, a non-profit organization.
He said it was no secret he was stepping down from Farm Festival leadership, referencing an OBSERVER article concerning his decision. “I encouraged people to shadow me during planning (of the 2023 festival) to get a hang of it, but no one did,” he wrote.
Mackey mentioned Ivy Rivera, the Dunkirk woman whose attempt to show interest in festival leadership was profiled in another, more recent article.
“True, (she) did come up to me during the festival and say she was interested. Yes, she said to stop by. I did try once, but she was with a customer,” he wrote. “For those that have seen me during the weekend of the festival, I am very busy. … If she was that interested in running it, then call me. She has my number.”
Mackey went on to assert that he has “not received one phone call from anyone about anything to do with the festival since I stepped down.”
He also criticized Fredonia’s government: “Every year I ran the festival, I had some sort of roadblock or hurdle. … Just once it would have been nice to walk into the board meeting and hear, ‘How can we help you?'”
Community chatter has it that Mackey is refusing to turn over items vital to running the festival. “As far as turning stuff over, I’m not sure what people want from me,” he replied. “Festivals Fredonia has the entire list of vendors but because of privacy concerns are not at liberty to share them. They have always had this. Most everything about running the festival is in my head. I did my best to create a handbook, but it’s a tough thing to write everything down.”
Mackey concluded in his letter that “I don’t believe I should be bashed the way I have been. … If someone is actually interested in running the festival, I’d be happy to give my advice. Good luck to anyone wanting to take it over.”
Here is the full letter:
