By By Adrienne McKenzie
The Leadership Atmore Class of 2004 put on another delicious event this year with its fourth annual Taste of the South.
Leadership Atmore Class of 2004 president Sharon Smith said the event was great and the food was even better.
"Despite the very warm temperature Saturday, I think the turnout was great," Smith said. "We could tell that the crowd was a little smaller this year, but we still had fabulous turnout. I think it is safe to say this has been the best variety of food vendors thus far. We had so much variety for the community to choose from."
Walt Butler displayed an array of oysters at the event. Community members could find oyster stew and fried oysters at "Bubba Walt's Oysters." Butler won the best taste portion of the competition.
Smith said the Taste of the South event was actually influenced by Butler.
"Our leadership class has been doing Taste of the South for four years now," she said. "Our leadership class decided to do this event because of Walt Butler. He has always been a faithful volunteer for various organizations and we got together with him and decided to give it a try."
The Leadership Atmore Class of 2004 has been dedicated to putting on the Taste of the South event since it was established.
"I think what has kept this event so strong is our Leadership class dedication to each other," Smith said. "Everyone is our Leadership class is always willing to help and we help motivate each other."
There were 13 vendors at the event this year and Smith said her Leadership class was pleased with vendor participation.
The Atmore Women's Club won the best dessert portion of the competition with their homemade ice cream.
The Whistle Stop Grill had the best decorated booth, a train that had an actual train whistle sound blasting from it. They provided barbeque shrimp and chicken salad.
Other vendors included, Chilly's, shaved ice treats; Winn Dixie, steamed shrimp with potatoes and corn; New Home Church – Road Kill Cafe, chicken on a stick and sausage on a stick; Short Stop Po Boy Shop, Po boy sandwiches and Etouffee; The Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, cheese cake and sweet tea; B&T's BBQ, wings, ribs and brisquet; Vikky Day, chicken salad and caramel cake; Pepsi; Heavenly Delight, pound cake and strawberry short cake and David's Catfish, chicken salad and watermelon.
Smith said that without individuals and businesses in Atmore the Taste of the South could not continue successfully.
"We really appreciate the community coming out to support this event, if it weren't for the community support, we could not do this event," Smith said. "The entertainment was Rose Gilley Southern Heritage, Lana Langford, Haskel Dunn, Haleigh Murph, Chuck Stevens and the Diamond Back Band. We appreciate the local talent, it was nice to see all the bleachers full for the entertainment."
The Leadership Class of 2004 hope to host the Taste of the South event again next year, "Lord willing," Smith said.
Smith would like to thank all the sponsors for their donations. She said the class will have a wrap up meeting to discuss numbers, which will determine exactly how many people attended the event Saturday.
She would also like to thank Earl Bryant at Tri-Co Electric, James Helton at Audio Plus, Webb Nall at Pepsi, Ronnie Johnson at Pepsi, The City of Atmore and Howard Shell for all their generosity.