WSD draws thousands
Published 4:21 pm Monday, October 24, 2011
Pensacola Avenue was the center of town in Atmore Saturday as crowds converged along the stretch of road between Craig Street and Owens Street for the 2011 Williams Station Day.
Featuring musical headliners The Alabama Blues Brothers, lots of scrumptious food and plenty of arts, crafts and other family entertainment, WSD was, once again, a huge hit.
Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce Office Manager Shelly Williams said the event drew a great crowd and all of the entertainers and artists made great contributions to the festivities.
Adding to the cheer of this year’s festival were extra visitors, spilling over from Escambia County High School’s 33-0 homecoming victory over Monroe County Friday night. A throng of Atmore natives attending some of the weekend’s many high school reunions also added to the crowd of festivalgoers perusing the booths at Saturday’s event.
Chamber Executive Director Sheryl Vickery said the day “could not have gone any better.”
Vickery said she believes the chamber’s goals of bringing people back to Atmore and making the festival bigger and better every year were achieved.
“By the comments I’ve gotten, it was just wonderful,” she said. “Everyone had a good time.”
Vickery said the big hit at this year’s WSD seemed to be the many performers positioned at different points throughout the festival.
“I’ve had several people tell me the entertainment was wonderful, and everyone enjoyed it.”
As for the overall attendance, Vickery said Saturday was one of the best for the event.
“It was a good turnout. We had a good crowd all the way to the very end. It was just a great day.”
An influx of new vendors and artists may have helped add some flash and a new spin to the annual event.
“We added two new food vendors this year,” she said. “And we had a little over 90 arts and crafts vendors.”
Overall, Vickery said she believes Saturday was a great time for visitors, vendors and artists alike. She added the input she gets form the visitors and participating vendors is the best gauge of success for WSD.
“I haven’t heard any negatives,” she said. “And that’s what you try to do. You don’t get better until you listen to the people who actually come, and that’s who you try to please. The people who come to the show and the people that are here to have a great time.”
With a great 2011 installment of WSD under their belts, the chamber will now shift focus to an array of Christmas events scheduled to begin in early December and run throughout the month.