Visitors were treated to a variety of foods Saturday night, during the Leadership Atmore Class of 2004’s annual Taste of the South event held at Heritage Park.

The event, which is the seventh one that has been hosted since the class gradated from Leadership Atmore, featured 10 vendors showing off their different specialties.

Sharon Smith, a member of Leadership Atmore Class of 2004, said the event went well with good attendance despite a play being performed down the road and Auburn hosting Clemson on The Plains.

“Considering how much was going on around Atmore and that there was an Auburn game on TV, I think everything went really well,” Smith said. “The food was good and the weather was beautiful.”

The Wagon Wheel took home the top honor after winning Best Taste at the event. The BBQ restaurant also won the Best Decorated Booth award.

Best Dessert was awarded to Michelle’s Baking Co. & Cafe.

Other vendors included, Women of Distinction, Atmore Women’s Club, Atmore Area YMCA, Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, Bennett’s Peanuts, St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, Frost Bites and Winn Dixie.

With this being the seventh time the event has been hosted, things get better every year, according to Smith.

She said that she has fun every year, and added that the food is always getting better.

“Every year, I enjoy this,” Smith said. “I don’t think we had as many people as we usually do, but there was a lot going on. The food is always delicious though, and I think it gets better every year that we hold it.”

As for the crowd’s reaction to the event, it seems that everyone had a good time.

Smith said she heard positive feedback about the food and only one complaint about the event.

“Several people said they had so much fun,” Smith said. “We had a lot of comments about how good all of the food was and how great all the different varieties were. The only complaint that we really had from people was the heat. It was really hot.”

As for future events, Smith said her class always looks forward to Taste of the South, and added that the 10th one could be really big.

“Our first one was in 2004, and we always look forward to it,” Smith said. “I’m already looking forward to next year’s Taste of the South, and who knows when we do the 10th one maybe it will be huge.”

For photos of all of the Taste of the South vendors, see page 10 or log onto www.atmorefocus.com