By By Adam Prestridge
Early weather forecasts show that the showers predicted Thursday and Friday will usher in cool, sunny conditions for this Saturday’s 18th annual Williams Station Day.
Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sheryl Vickery said she doesn’t pay attention to the weather leading up to a big event, so the news of sunny weather was a delight.
According to local weather models, festivalgoers should wake to a cool 58 degrees Saturday morning with temperatures topping out at 70 degrees by midday. The cooler weather is predicted to follow a storm front forecasted to soak Atmore Thursday and Friday with only a 10 percent chance of rain Saturday.
As for final preparations for the annual event, Vickery said they are wrapping up.
Williams Station Day, a regional festival, is packed with venues that will offer a look into Atmore’s past as well as its future. It will be held from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on historic Pensacola Avenue and feature arts and crafts, live music from a variety of musicians, a pumpkin painting and carving contest, festival games and rides, great food and much, much more.
In addition to Williams Station Day activities, many high school classes have chosen this weekend to host their reunions.
Musicians will take center stage on the main stage located in front of the Atmore Area YMCA and Community Center. Microwave Dave &The Nukes will make an encore visit to this year’s event after being well-received two years ago as the headliner. The trio will share headliner status this year with The Four Kicks. Both bands will have two shows on the main stage. Other musicians include Atmore’s own Haley Murph, Wayne Veal, Roger “Hurricane” Wilson and Winky Hicks. Magician Gary Ledbetter will also be featured on the main stage and in the Storytellers Tent, along with Williams Station Day regular, Roy Harper, and Paula Larke. Hicks, Veal and Harper will also perform at the Fiddlers’ Tent.
Williams Station Day also features a Children’s Art Village, model train show, AL Gulf Coast Static Locomotive, old time cane milling, a cultural display by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Williams Station hayride, Williams Station “Express” train ride and a turpentine display.
Vickery added that it is not too late for those interested in becoming a Patron of the Arts. For $100, patrons will be given “script,” or play money, that can be used to purchase arts and crafts during the festival. The patron’s program is an incentive to vendors, guaranteeing a certain amount of money available for sales.
In addition, all Patrons of the Arts are invited to the Patron’s Party from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Friday night at the Creek Indian Enterprises building located at 100 Brookwood Rd., where a few artists will be on hand to give those participants a sneak peak of Saturday’s arts. Refreshments will be served.
For more information about Williams Station Day or the Patrons of the Arts program, call the Chamber office at 368-3305.