By By Emilie Mims
Beautiful weather, tremendous crowds and great venues once again contributed to the success of Atmore's annual heritage festival, Williams Station Day. On what would be described by the tourism industry as a "chamber of commerce day" thousands flocked to Pensacola Avenue to enjoy the festivities. Many volunteers and organizations contributed to the success of Williams Station Day, which this year celebrated its 16th year. I believe W.M. Carney would have been quite proud of this little sawmill town.
To the many volunteers working behind the scenes to make this event happen….we thank you. As always, I hesitate to name names as there were so many, but here it goes….Our thanks to Gregg Akins and his team who gave their time to solicit the patrons of the arts who support our artists. A special thank you to Annie Nowak and Kathleen Tucci for a fabulous Patron of the Arts Party, and Foster Kizer of Royal Oaks B and B for donated accommodations for our storytellers. Thank you to the volunteers of the Atmore Garden Club who manned the Memorabilia Booth and the Atmore Women's Club who manned the Chamber Information Booth beginning early Saturday morning; Keith Castleberry who did an incredible job filling the Center Stage with talent and MC's, Chuck Stevens and Sharon Smith.
A special thank you to Adam Prestridge of The Atmore Advance who sponsored the Andrews Sisters USO Show to a packed audience; Nancy Helton, chamber president, who handled finances for the day; and the team of Mark Clayton and Cereal Daniel who, with the help of many drivers, kept two hay wagons moving. Despite a broken leg, Lisa Reynolds with the help of husband, Steven and faithful steed, Montgomery, did an incredible job juicing can and giving out buckets of juice to visitors.
Thank you to Allen Walston for coordinating the food vendors and Dan Allen Currie who, once again, coordinated the Model Train Show. Thank you to our friends at United Bank who shared breakfast with everyone at their hospitality tent, and Cathy McKinley of the Atmore Public Library for coordinating the storyteller in the elementary schools on Friday, and the Storytelling Tent on Saturday. A special thank you to this year's sponsors of the Storytelling Tent: Alabama Power Company, Swift Supply and Alto Products Corp.
Thank you to First National Bank and Trust who sponsored the very popular Old Time Fiddler's Tent and Rob Faircloth for your continued help with the saga of the golf cart. A big thank you to Earl Bryant of Tri-Co Electric for your last minute help with the bucket truck, Central Farm Supply who, once again sponsored the Pumpkin Painting and Carving Contest which brought out some incredible entries and the Poarch Creek Indians for their cultural display.
Thank you to the "Atmore News" for preserving our visual history with the Remembering Atmore Photography Contest and Hendrix Tractor for the use of two tractors for the hayride. Atmore Truckers assistance with hay for seating was so appreciated. Thank you to Doreen and Keith Hess and the extraordinary help of the homeschooled group and youth of Grace Fellowship on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
To Tammy, Leslie, Ross and Johnny at the YMCA and Deborah Daniel … you were outstanding, and the Chamber Ambassadors, YLA volunteers, Cindy Lee, Vikki Day, Susan Giles and Ed Brown who all played a part in making Williams Station Day a success……thank you guys!
And last a special thank you to the City of Atmore who assisted with preparing the festival area and festival sponsors United Bank, The Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Frontier Communication Solutions, Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union, Chuck Stevens Automotive, Masland Carpets &Rugs, Diamond Food Marts and the Leadership Atmore Class of 2004.
Emilie Mims is executive director for the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at 368-3305.