New Bessie Smith Cultural Center Director Dionne Jennings wants everybody to know one thing: “The Bessie Smith Strut will be back.”
Jennings said at a news conference Tuesday at The Bessie, as the center has come to be known, that there was some question as to the future of the annual event after gate and concession money went missing after last year’s Strut. More than $42,500 was stolen from a desk drawer after the event, and Torrey Hines, a worker at the facility, later admitted taking the money and eventually returned $39,921. Employees at the center originally reported that almost $89,000 had been taken.
Director Rose Martin left the center in October and was replaced by Jennings in January.
Friends of the Festival will have a greater role in the Strut this year, Jennings said. Friends produces the Riverbend Festival and has always partnered with the cultural center on the Strut, but in recent years has done little more than provide staging and book the musical acts.
This year, Friends will handle the bulk of the Strut’s production work, including wristbands, beer sales, volunteer coordination and back-office administration.