5 months ago
The Macon Cherry Blossom Festival says their nationwide search gave them a new CEO working two blocks away.
This morning, festival officials announced that their new president and CEO is Karen Lambert, executive director of Macon's Grand Opera House.
Steve Jukes, head of the festival's board of directors says they got 80 applicants from 15 states.
Lambert is a Macon native, a Mercer University graduate and, Juke said, an experienced fund raiser.
She's worked since 1999 for the Grand Opera House, which is owned by Mercer University.
Lambert says she'll start on the job Oct. 5. She said her first order of business is to talk to all of the people involved in the festival to learn more.
The Cherry Blossom Festival, held every March, has struggled in recent years due to poor weather and the economy. It lost money in both 2006 and 2007.
Lambert replaces interim director Jim Davis, who headed the festival for six months after Wright Tilley took a tourism-promotion job in North Carolina.
The festival is scheduled for March 19-28.
