Staff photo.
Ashley Mac’s founder Ashley McMakin.
Birmingham Christian Family Magazine is planning its fourth annual Celebrate The Family Expo at the Finley Center in the Hoover Metropolitan Complex on Saturday, Sept. 16.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and include live music; food trucks; inflatables for kids; face painting; free giveaways and exhibits from companies, nonprofits and churches that offer resources; other services; and volunteer opportunities for both adults and children, said Laurie Stroud Franklin, owner of the magazine.
“We established this event as a way to say thank you to our readers and followers,” Stroud said.
“We’re happy to be celebrating 23 years of the magazine by living out our mission of spreading good news, and this is a great way of celebrating with us, by inviting the entire community to come celebrate as we share with families free resources to help them meet their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.”
There were about 60 exhibitors last year, and Stroud said she expects that many or more this year.
Kevin Derryberry, the former lead singer of the band Telluride who switched over to Christian music after becoming a Christian, will provide live music. A new feature this year will be a celebrity chef stage with cooking demonstrations from people such as Ashley Mac’s founder Ashley McMakin, second-generation Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q owner Van Sykes and Southern cookbook author Danna Standridge.
There also will be free giveaways for the first 250 people present, representatives from the Hoover Belles girls service organization, the Chick-fil-A cow herd and free shredding and electronic recycling by Gone for Good (a program of the United Ability nonprofit).
The number of people attending has grown every year and last year was close to 2,000 people, Stroud said. Last year’s Celebrate the Family Expo was held at the Hoover Met Stadium, but this year the event is being moved back to the Finley Center like the first year’s event, she said.
Sponsors include Children’s of Alabama, Alabama’s Credit Union, Leaf Filter, HomeCraft Gutter Protection, Reignite Chiropractic, Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association, Thrivent Financial, Wellcare and Vapor Ministries.
