October is here and the final touches are being made to Atmore’s annual fall festival, Williams Station Day, which will be held in front of the Atmore Area YMCA and along Pensacola Avenue on Saturday, Oct. 22.

With the event being planned for months, things have still not settled down for Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Sheryl Vickery.

As the day gets closer, the Chamber is still taking vendors as well as planning things for the day, Vickery said.

“It’s an ongoing process,” she said. “We have our story tellers lined up, our entertainment lined up and we are going to have a bluegrass tent. We are still taking vendors for arts and crafts, but we have all of our food vendors set. We are going to go back and have another Patrons Party for those who decide to be Patrons of the Arts. It’s still not too late to be a patron.”

The Patron of the Arts party is thrown for supporters of Williams Station Day that are promising to spend money with the vendors at the event.

The party is a way to thank those supporters for spending their money, Vickery said.

“We do a program that we call Patrons of the Arts,” she said. “What they do is they pay $100 and receive four $25 play money that they can spend at the event. Why we do that is it guarantees that money will be spent at the show. If we get 100 patrons then that’s $10,000 that we know is going to be spent at Williams Station Day. For them being a patron, we throw a party for them. This year, it will be on Thursday, Oct. 20 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. due to the homecoming taking place on Friday. Clint and Susan Smith are going to host it at their home and it will be catered. We are still looking for entertainment, but it will be fun.”

For entertainment, visitors will have the chance to see several acts on the main stage as well as the Fiddlers tent.

This year’s lineup includes the Alabama Blues Brothers that visited in 2008 as well as a group requested back from last year, Vickery said.

“We are bringing back the Alabama Blues Brothers,” she said. “They were here a couple of years ago and did a great job. They played one 40-minute last time, but this time they are going to perform two 70-minute sets. We also have back by popular demand, Sixty Grit, which is Dr. McIntyre’s band. We will also have Angie Shelly’s Twirl Time, which always brings a large crowd and everyone loves to see them twirl. In our bluegrass tent, we have ReWind, which has a woman from Atmore. They will be on the stage as well.”

With Williams Station Day quickly approaching, the Chamber expects a large crowd to turnout for a popular event.
Vickery said she believes an even larger crowd will be there this year.

“A lot of people and a good time,” she said. “We put a lot of effort into this to make it fun and to make it a step better than last year’s event. Last year, brought so many people back that they will come back again this year.”