Nolensville creates Buttercup Festival committee, appoints seven members and a liaison

The Town of Nolensville Board of Commissioners on Jan. 27 voted unanimously to create a Nolensville Buttercup Festival Committee and to appoint seven initial committee members and a board liaison.

Supporters of the long-running Buttercup Festival — including past organizers, historic-district merchants, volunteers and several area pastors — spoke during the meeting’s public-comments period and urged the board to preserve the event and its mission to promote the downtown historic district and give back to the community.

The resolution to create the committee, numbered 25-013, defines the committee’s membership as four representatives from historic-district businesses or churches plus one representative each from Town Events, the Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) and the Trees, Arts and Parks (TAPS) advisory committee, with a Board of Commissioners liaison. Mayor (Town of Nolensville) said the resolution came together rapidly and emphasized the need to understand potential costs before adopting a long-term town role.

Past organizer and longtime volunteer Debbie Sutmiller submitted a written statement that was read to the board and cautioned that the festival should “continue to fulfill the historic knowns” of its mission: “The Buttercup Festival's mission is to bring awareness to the downtown Historic District Merchants while giving back to the community through scholarships and local charitable donations.” Sutmiller said the festival should be dissolved if historic-district business owners are unable to participate in most planning tasks or if the event can no longer take place in the downtown historic district.

Several community speakers echoed support for maintaining the festival, and many urged moving the event back to a Saturday to avoid conflicts with Sunday church services. Pastor Jeremy Squires of Nolensville First United Methodist, Pastor James Scruggs of Ebenezer United Methodist Church and other church representatives said a Saturday date would allow greater involvement. Longtime merchants and vendors — including Rankin Clinton of Wabash Southern Kitchen and Darren Sheff — told commissioners the festival supports local businesses and community identity.

Vice Mayor Salomeida and staff briefed the board on possible funding. Town staff reported a line item of about $76,000 in an internal committee budget that had roughly $16,000 spent, leaving “a little over $60,000” available to support events and committee activities. Vice Mayor Salomeida told the board staff believed that, with vendor fees and sponsorships, the town could host the Buttercup Festival this year without pulling funds from unrelated accounts. She said overtime police costs and other event expenses should be offset by vendor fees and sponsorships going forward. She added that past organizers estimate the cost of running the festival during prior years at roughly $5,500, though costs have risen.

Commissioners debated whether the Town Events Committee should run Buttercup or whether a new, stand-alone committee with a historic-district majority would better protect the event’s character. Mayor and several commissioners said a separate committee, with historic-district membership in the majority, would send a clearer signal that the festival remains rooted downtown. The board amended the resolution to say the committee’s first meeting should occur “as soon as reasonably possible.”

After discussion the board passed Resolution 25-013 (create committee) by unanimous voice vote. The board then approved Resolution 25-017 to appoint the initial members and liaison; the appointed committee members are Tommy Duggar, Audrey Ngo, Lamont Claybrooks, Rankin Clinton, Lena St. John, Tracy Windrow and Mary Kate Polreis. Vice Mayor Salomeida was designated as the Board of Commissioners liaison. The motions to approve the resolutions and the appointments passed unanimously.

Discussion at the meeting emphasized that the festival must break even and that vendor fees and sponsorships should be structured to offset overtime policing and other town event costs. Staff and several commissioners described the coming year as a test: the town will host the festival with the expectation the new committee will develop a sustainable funding model that does not rely on recurring draws from unrelated town event budgets.

The new committee will set future meeting dates, organize the event and report back to the board; the resolution specifies committee representation and the intent that the historic-district businesses have a majority voice in planning.

The Board of Commissioners closed the special-called portion of the meeting and moved on to a workshop session on the same evening.