Beaufort County Emerging Leaders highlight Fourth of July event and employee recognition

Kyriano Forrestal, an event leader in the Beaufort County Assessor's Office Emerging Leaders program, said the group organized a Fourth of July event to spotlight Beaufort County's role in the past and its direction going forward. "My concept was just, you know, showing how Beaufort County played a enormous role in the foundation of this country as well as the direction that we're going in the future," he said.

Forrestal said the event began as his personal idea for a July holiday celebration and was linked to previous community events the group had run; he cited an earlier Earth Day program that he described as "a completely recyclable event." He said county leadership provided backing: "From day 1, Michael Moore, the county administrator, he was very supportive," and Forrestal also named Jared Freilich as a supporter.

Organizers said funding and staff support were available. "So there was, plenty of funding for this event, plenty of help," Forrestal said, adding that people across departments who were not in the Emerging Leaders program also helped. He described the effort as intended to recognize "unsung heroes" among public servants and to boost morale across the county workforce: "I thought that, you know, tying this event into leadership service and recognizing, the employees was good and a morale booster for the, county as a whole."

Forrestal said the event "turned out well," and emphasized the importance of recognizing county employees whose work often goes unnoticed. The transcript did not record a detailed budget, dates for future events, or additional formal actions arising from the presentation.