TRAVERSE CITY -- The National Cherry Festival Board of Governors will roll the dice with a former gambling industry executive to lead it into its 83rd year and beyond.
Timothy Hinkley, 53, former president and chief operating officer of Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., was named Tuesday night as the festival's fifth executive director. Hinkley will go from having oversight of 10,000 employees at 18 casino and hotel properties to a staff of seven.
"Running a casino is like running a festival every day; there's a lot of moving parts and it's competitive, so you have to be on your game," Hinkley said. "And fun, it's got to be fun."
Hinkley said in addition to fun he'll focus on fiscal responsibility and keeping the festival fresh.
"We're in an age where young kids pick something up, say 'that's great,' throw it out and say 'what's next?'" Hinkley said. "If we want to continue to draw more people to the festival we've got to keep it fresh."
A Michigan native, Hinkley grew up just north of Detroit in Clarkston and became familiar with the Grand Traverse area after his sister moved to Interlochen. He and his wife built a home in Leelanau County's Solon Township in 2003 and made it their permanent home after he left Isle of Capri in July 2007.
"I was at a point in my career where either I keep doing that or go in another direction," Hinkley said. "My wife an I wanted to give back to the Traverse City community."
The festival hired a corporate head-hunter to conduct a national search to replace Tom Menzel, who stepped down after three years as executive director. Tino Breithaupt, chairman of the festival's selection committee, said they came up with five solid candidates to interview and unanimously recommended Hinkley, who had applied for the job.
"We sent all five candidates a Cherry Festival budget, and Tim (Hinkley) cut it up into pieces, moved things around, and had all of these questions for us and some really intriguing ideas," Breithaupt said. "We were impressed by the drive and passion he exuded during the interview."
The festival board's vote was also unanimous.
"We are delighted to have found a candidate who we think is a terrific, highly qualified person to fill the executive director's role," said board president Mary Marois in a prepared release. "We look forward to Tim Hinkley's leadership as we progress to the next important era of the festival."
Hinkley agreed to a three-year contract with a first-year salary of $81,500. He begins Dec. 1, Menzel's last day as executive director.
"The search was objective and well done, they have a good candidate and it bodes well for the festival," Menzel said.
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