Edmund McIlhenny bobble head to be given away Saturday

By Eli Pearlstein

August 5, 2014

HAGERSTOWN MD - The Hagerstown Suns and the Hagerstown/ Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) announced today that the bobble head that will be given away at the Suns game on Saturday, August 9 will portray Edmund McIlhenny, who was an American businessman and manufacturer who was born in Hagerstown in 1815 and is most well known for inventing Tabasco Sauce. The McIlhenny bobble head is presented by the CVB and will be given to the first 1,000 fans through the gates of Municipal Stadium on Saturday.

McIlhenny first experimented with making a sauce from Tabasco peppers between 1866 and 1868. He sold his first bottles of Tabasco brand pepper sauce in 1869, and the following year he obtained patent letters for his invention. McIlhenny, who also served as a civilian employee of the Confederate army during the Civil War, passed away in 1890. Following his death his children built upon the Tabasco sauce business he had started, and today each carton of Tabasco sauce bears a facsimile of McIlhenny's signature.

The Hagerstown/ Washington County CVB is a non-profit private organization whose mission is to develop and market Washington County as a viable and desirable travel destination to meeting planners, leisure travelers, and business customers. The Board of Directors consists of 15 individuals representing not only the tourism industry, but also a wide scope of businesses from throughout the county. Its offices are located at 16 Public Square in downtown Hagerstown, and they also operate the Visitor Welcome Center at 6 North Potomac Street in downtown Hagerstown.

The CVB is in its ninth year as a proud supporter of the Hagerstown Suns and as a sponsor for the bobble head giveaway. For more information on the CVB you can visit their website at www.marylandmemories.org. For more information on all of the Suns promotions and giveaways throughout the 2014 season and to reserve your seats at Municipal Stadium, call 301-791-6266, or go to www.hagerstownsuns.com.