<body><div>Estimated 1,000-plus attend Atmore’s annual food fair<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2mdJg9_0vj5iqVD00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2mdJg9_0vj5iqVD00" width="657" height="438" ><figcaption>Chamber Youth Ambassadors offered New Orleans style food. Cade Leachman is at far left, Mary Joyner Dean at far right. Under the tent are Eli McElhaney, left, and Logan Madden, right.</figcaption></figure>News Staff WriterMany of the 16 “vendors” who set up shop last Thursday, September 19, at Atmore’s annual Taste of the South event remembered last year, when a record crowd swarmed to the event, and prepared extra food this year. It hardly mattered.Booth after booth ran out of their featured food again, as an estimated 1,000 casual diners crowded into Heritage Park for this year’s event. They came early, and they brought their appetites with them.David Dobson, past president of Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, said the crowd had already begun to match last year’s before the first hour of the three-hour fiesta had expired. And, he pointed out, it was more than just the food that brought the crowd.“I think the crowd is bigger than last year, especially at this point,” Dobson said shortly before 6 p.m. as lines continued to form at the ticket booth and most of the food booths. “It’s good for the people of the community. Really, it’s the big kickoff to Fall, when we have Williams Station Day and there are fairs and events all around the area.”Mayor Jim Staff said the expectant diners began lining up around 4 p.m., patiently waiting for an hour or more to begin their culinary tour.Most of those who attended came for more than just the food. Available tables and chairs were filled quickly, blankets and quilts were spread across the greenspace, and dozens stood in groups as news and memories were shared while food and drink were consumed.Chamber Board President Dawn Skipper welcomed the crowd and noted that this year’s Taste marked the event’s 20th anniversary. Gift bags were available for any member of the 2004 Leadership Atmore Class in attendance.Local Boy Scouts Samuel McIntyre and Ashton Garrison raised the U.S. flag and led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance.All the while, attendees were forming lines at various booths to sample various chicken, pork and beef dishes, a few vegetable concoctions and plenty of dessert offerings. Sweet tea, lemonade and water were available at various booths.Cindy Colville, a member of the Pepsi team whose Southern Bread Pudding was a hit, said the bowl was scraped clean before the crowd had even begun to thin out. She said the event was her favorite.“We served 375 bowls,” she said. “If we had made 450, we probably would have run out, too. I thought it went off wonderfully well. For me, it’s our most favorite event of the year.”Sunny Dayz Lemonade was the winner of the Best Drink award, and Circle E Buildings was voted Best Dessert. David’s Catfish House of Atmore (whose Ponderosa Party Burgers were again one of Taste of the South’s most sought-after delicacies) won in the Best Commercial category, while First National Bank &amp; Trust won the Best Amateur competition.Hughes Pest Control, which depleted its supply of chicken on a stick before the event’s halfway point, was voted Best Decorated Booth.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

20th Taste of the South

Estimated 1,000-plus attend Atmore’s annual food fair. Many of the 16 “vendors” who set up shop last Thursday, September 19, at Atmore’s annual Taste of the South event remembered last year, when a record crowd swarmed to the event, and prepared extra food this year. It hardly mattered.