Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival & Johhny Blue
On March 24,1924 the first Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival was held. It was a one-day event. Over the past 98 years, the festival has grown to a 10-day spectacular with over 40 events!
Our beloved, president (and friend) Kristen, has been asked numerous times, why doesn’t Johnny Blue have a float in the parade. We could design and construct an awesome float, whether it be fun with poop emojis, serious and showcasing our products or featuring our many hard working and committed employees. With so many talented employees in the Johnny Blue family, there’s no doubt our float could stand out among the best.
Johnny Blue and the Bloom
Since 1975 Johnny Blue Inc. has been providing restroom facilities for the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. As the festival continues to grow, so do their needs. We provide about 300 rentals to not only the festival itself, but also the many individuals that have gatherings celebrating the festival. We run 20 trucks, with even more employees to provide 1200 portable toilet cleanings for the festival and this is on top of our regular routes and services! In total the festival produces about 20,000 gallons of toilet waste. To put that into perspective, according to Robelle, the average 15’ X 30’ swimming pool that is 6’ deep contains 20,300 gallons of water. Now that’s a lot of waste! Can you even imagine how many rolls of toilet paper we go through?
All of the toilets for the parade route as well as the private festival rentals are delivered on the Thursday prior to the parade. Again, this is while still providing the excellent services our many loyal customers have come to expect. And have you ever noticed; no toilets are in sight come Sunday morning? That’s because they are all picked up and back in our yard by 9am! Wow, what a lot of work!
To pull off an event of this magnitude, it takes all hands-on deck. From our fearless leaders, not only organizing the operation but being hands on hauling toilets, to our technicians making deliveries and providing services, to our office employees, scheduling and routing the deliveries and services, billing the event and calculating the additional employee work hours. It truly takes the full Johnny Blue family!
So, why don’t we have a float in the parade?
In short, to answer a question with a question, who has the time or energy to build a float? HAPPY BLOOM!
