Andy Millard will be a guest on John Boy and Billy&squo;s &dquo;The Big Show&dquo; on Monday, June 9, from 6 to 10 am to help promote the Blue Ridge Barbecue & Music Festival.

&dquo;This is such a fantastic opportunity for our Festival,&dquo; said Millard who served for eight years as Festival Chairman before stepping down in 2005. John Boy and Billy have fans all over the country.&dquo;

It&squo;s not the first time Millard has visited with the zany crew. In 2005, John Boy and Billy&squo;s &dquo;The Big Show&dquo; Grillin Team entered the competition in Tryon and Millard, as chairman of the Festival, was invited to be on the show at that time.

&dquo;It&squo;s funny what a small world this is,&dquo; Millard said. &dquo;During that show in 2005, I was talking with a young lady called &dquo;Tater&dquo; who was (and still is) their guest scheduler. All of a sudden she said, &squo;You&squo;re Mr. Millard&squo;! Turns out, she was a student of mine when I taught junior high school in Gastonia a number of years ago.&dquo;

Now &dquo;Tater&dquo; is a regular on the air with &dquo;The Big Show,&dquo; and Millard called her to request the opportunity to appear on behalf of the Festival this year. He plans to cook ribs for the early morning enjoyment of the whole show staff.

&dquo;Actually feeding them barbecue is the best way I know of to get folks in the mood for talking about what all goes on here in Tryon,&dquo; Millard said. &dquo;So in between all their skits and contests and other activities, I&squo;ll be serving up the ribs and as much chatter as they&squo;ll give me time for. But knowing their crazy humor, what they&squo;ll want most is nutty stories I can tell them about things that have happened here.&dquo;

From its home station in Charlotte, WRFX-FM (99.7), John Boy and Billy&squo;s The Big Show is syndicated in more than 100 markets in 23 states. Its estimated daily audience is approximately 20 million people. In the western Carolinas, they can also be heard on Asheville&squo;s WQNS-FM (104.9) and Greenville&squo;s WROQ-FM (101.1).

The Blue Ridge Barbecue & Music Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14 at Harmon Field in Tryon. Gates open at 11 am Friday and 10 am Saturday and close at 11 pm both days. The Festival is conducted annually under the auspices of the Polk County Chamber of Commerce. Proceeds help support Chamber operations, and additional funds go to the Polk County Chamber Foundation to be returned to the community through distributions to a variety of programs and projects throughout the county. For more information and a coupon for $1 off Friday&squo;s admission cost, visit www.BlueRidgeBBQFestival.com.

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