Bob Evans Executive Randy Hicks Named Honorary Chair of 23rd Dublin Irish Festival
Dublin, Ohio (January 8, 2010) –The 2010 Dublin Irish Festival recipe for success will include the quality and hospitality served by Bob Evans President and Chief Concept Officer Randy Hicks as Honorary Chair.
Selected by former Dublin Irish Festival honorary chairs, Mayor Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher and City Manager Terry Foegler, Hicks was chosen for his support of the Dublin Irish Festival, the City of Dublin and the Central Ohio community.
In this role, Hicks will preside over festivities surrounding the 23rd annual Dublin Irish Festival, and he will serve as an official host of the Emerald Club and as a spokesperson for the Festival.
Other official roles include starting the run at the Dub Crawl on Thursday, Aug. 5, opening the Festival on Friday, Aug. 6 and closing it Sunday, August 8. Throughout the weekend Hicks will throw the first dart in the annual Dart Competition and partner with Skelley the Leprechaun to judge the reddest hair, most freckles and greenest eyes contests.
"I am humbled to be chosen Honorary Chair of the Dublin Irish Festival. I am especially pleased because of the importance of the Dublin community to Bob Evans and the impact that the Dublin Irish Festival has on the region,” said Hicks.
Hicks began his career at Bob Evans at age 15 by working summers at the Bob Evans food tent at the Ohio State Fair. After eight summers, he became service attendant and grill cook in a Bob Evans restaurant, joining the management program in 1982 as a manager-in-training and becoming a general manager five years later. He became area director with responsibility for six of the company’s restaurants in 1989. In 1994, he was promoted to vice president, regional director of operations with responsibility for approximately 100 restaurants. Promoted again to senior vice president of operations in 2003 and to executive vice president of operations in 2004, he became responsible for the operation of the company’s nearly 600 Bob Evans restaurants. He was promoted to President and Chief Concept Officer of Bob Evans Restaurants in January 2009. Hicks graduated from Canal Winchester High School in 1978 and the Ohio State University in 1982. He has been a resident of Dublin since 1992. He and wife Stacy have three children – Drew, Lauren and Bailey – who attend St. Brigid of Kildare School.
“Bob Evans has been a Festival vendor and sponsor whose contributions include a dedicated staff, marketing support and unrivaled on-site service and hospitality,” said Alison LeRoy, Events Administration Manager. “Bob Evans is consistently ranked among the top five most recognized sponsors by our guests. The relationship that we have with Randy Hicks and the Bob Evans team will continue to flourish through his role as Honorary Chair.”
Hicks joins a prestigious group of past Irish Festival Honorary Chairs, including Denny Lynch of Wendy’s International (1997); Terry O’Connell of Time Warner Communications (1998); Terry Tindel, formerly with Verizon Wireless (1999); Mike Kelty of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (2000); Ron Geese of Continental Office Environments (2001); Don Hunter of Duke Realty Corporation (2002); Dave D’Antoni of Ashland, Inc (2003); Mike Kehoe of AT&T (2004); Tom Thon of ClearChannel Columbus Radio (2005); Cheryl Herbert of Dublin Methodist Hospital/OhioHealth (2006); Dan Sullivan of the Memorial Tournament (2007); John Fleming of Superior Beverage Group (2008) and Frank Willson of WBNS 10TV (2009).
For additional information about Bob Evans, visit www.bobevans.com.
About the Dublin Irish Festival
The Dublin Irish Festival, set on 27 rolling acres just northwest of Columbus, Ohio, is one of the nation’s premier Irish festivals and a central Ohio tradition. More than 100,000 guests are expected for the Dublin Irish Festival August 6, 7 & 8. For more information and to purchase discount tickets in advance, visit DublinIrishFestival.org.
Mary Jo DiSalvo, Media Contact, 614-410-4507, mdisalvo@dublin.oh.us