Atmore Taste of the South food festival 2008
Nick Drew grills up some famous Ponderosa Party Burgers at the third annual Taste of the South for David’s Catfish in 2006.
By Adam Prestridge
Published: Tuesday, September 9, 2008 10:24 PM CDT
If you plan on attending the fifth annual Taste of the South on Sept. 20, you better come hungry.
The Leadership Atmore Class of 2004 will host its annual food festival from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. that evening and class president Sharon Smith said preparations for the tasty event are going well.
“Everything is going really smooth right now,” she said. “I still have to hear from a few vendors, but I’ve got a full circle this year.”
The event will be held at Heritage Park and will feature 15 food vendors seeking the Best Taste of the South award presented to the vendor with the best food at the event. There will also be awards given for Best Dessert and Best Decorated Booth.
Vendors committed to this year’s taste of the South include, the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, the Atmore Area YMCA, B&T Texas Style BBQ, Pintoli’s Italian Caf/, Whistle Stop Gill, David’s Catfish House, the Escambia Academy Athletics Department, Short Stop Sandwich Shop, Pepsi Bottling Company, Kim McCullough, Winn Dixie and Annie’s Community Cup.
Smith said there are three additional vendors who have not confirmed, which would fill the competition. She added that if there are other vendors interested to contact her by Friday in case of a cancellation.
“We don’t go over 15 because that’s how many people can fit around the circle, but if anybody’s interested and I have a cancellation then I would definitely consider taking somebody else,” Smith said.
There will also be several types of entertainment on hand to keep the crowd energetic. Smith said local singers will perform including, Perry Jones, Abby Akins, Conrad Webber, Haley Murph and Chuck Stevens.
“We’ve had great entertainment every year, but I think this group is younger and fresher,” Smith said. “I think it’s going to be great entertainment.”
This year’s event will also feature some additional entertainment for those in attendance.
“There will be a free jalapeno eating contest this year,” Smith said. “We are going to see who can eat the most jalapenos in six minutes.”
Smith said there would also be a projection TV and big screen set up for watching football games.
“I guess we’ll be watching the Auburn vs. LSU game since there is not an Alabama game,” she said.
Tickets for the event are $10. Each ticket includes five taste-testing tickets, which are to be used for sampling at five vendor booths. The top ticket is used for taste testers to vote on the Best Taste.
“The community is the reason why Taste of the South is such a great success because without them, we would not have the festival,” Smith said. “The community supports it greatly. I’m very excited that this is our fifth year doing this project.”
All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce. The funds will be used again this year for the class to be recognized as a festival sponsor at Williams Station Day in October.
For more information or to participate as a food vendor, call Smith at 368-1336.
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