Manassas Town Council press release: Theresa Coates Ellis, Patron Manassas City Council Member of Manassas Bee Festival (June 22); Patricia Kouttab, Owner of Kerbobble Toys; Sherry Day, building owner of 9216 Center St.; Mark Olsen, Chair and Kristen Kiefer, Executive Director, Historic Manassas Inc., proudly announce the launch to create a new wall mural at an entrance to Historic Manassas on the wall of Kerbobble Toys celebrating the Bee City USA designation for the City of Manassas. On May 2021, the Manassas City Council voted unanimously to become a Bee City USA, initiated by Council Member Coates Ellis, a trained master gardener and beekeeper. With that designation, the City must hold public awareness activities to plant native and to save our pollinators, including bees. The 4th annual Manassas Bee Festival fulfills this requirement with a free family fun and educational event held on Saturday, June 22nd from 10am to 2pm.
Coates Ellis said, “We started a nonprofit organization, Friends of the Manassas Bee Festival, so we could give back to the community. Our goal was to contribute more public art and education to the city of Manassas with the important native plant and pollinator theme. Since 2019, we have visited many schools and groups and hosted workshops and demonstrations at the apiary at Liberia House and Grounds. This year, we are thrilled that a public art plan came together and the Friends of the Manassas Bee Festival will be donating funds for the wall mural project on Kerbobble Toys, to welcome visitors to our Historic Manassas, a Bee City USA.”
Patricia Kouttab, owner of Kerbobble Toys (opened December, 2019), is also an artist and designed the new mural. She will be painting her original work of art on the wall of her business. The building is owned by Sherry Day, who submitted her consent for the project to Kouttab.
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