Too good to be true ...

Here's what the blurb said in the Herald's calendar for Friday:

  FIRST FRIDAY will be held Friday in downtown Statesboro beginning at 5:30 p.m. with a Wedding Walk. A Wedding Fair/Bridal Fashion Show will be held at Quality Inn beginning at 6 p.m. Admission is $5/person or a brochure available at the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority’s booth.

Here are the thoughts dancing through through the minds of the Herald's executive editor and its staff photographer: Visions of models wearing wedding gowns and formal wear marching down Main Street to the Quality Inn to kick off the evening. How's that for the front page?

Now, I'm usually a little wary about the newsworthiness of publicity stunts, but this one I had to see - and photograph. Of course, the weather reports called for rain, and this part of the event was unlikely to take place, so I ventured into the Quality Inn to seek information and inquire about an alternative to photographing the Wedding Walk. I was put in touch with one of the event organizers, and she set the record straight.

"Wedding Walk" really referred to the act of moving First Friday patrons from downtown to the Quality Inn for the fair/fashion show via a free shuttle bus, not an extended wedding march down Main Street.

Oh well, I had to settle for a little backstage moment before the fashion show and an eerie, foggy shot on Main Street.

The lesson? Make sure you talk to PR folks or organizers when something seems to good to be true.

It would have been a great publicity stunt. Maybe I should go into PR?

... naw.