As ‘sweet’ as always

Students, residents, vendors, artists, cops and barbecue gurus showed up in record numbers on Saturday, Nov. 4, for Milledgeville’s third annual Sweetwater Festival. 
According to Heather Holder of the Milledgeville Mainstreet Downtown Development Authority, the final tally came in at just under ten thousand people.  The festival is put on by Milledgeville Mainstreet as a fundraiser for downtown, with more than 40 corporate sponsors, and the proceeds go toward renovations to buildings, landscaping costs, and low-interest micro-loans for downtown merchants.
“The event costs somewhere around $108,000 to put on, and takes about a year to plan,” said Mainstreet employee Lindsey Hornsby.  “The money that doesn’t get used by the City will go into the fund for next year’s festival, which we are already planning.”
The event featured vendor booths, a kid’s zone with four inflatables and a rock climbing wall, a community stage with family entertainment, an SGA sponsored music stage with special performances by Moonshine Still and Perpetual Groove, among other bands, and the twenty-first annual Old Capital Car Club Open Car Show.  However, the main attraction of the Sweetwater Festival was the barbecue contest.
The barbecue contestants each paid $115 per category to enter the contest with a total of four categories, and braved the nighttime sub-30 degree temperatures with Boy Scout enthusiasm. 
The contest was sponsored by Midsouth Federal Credit Union and featured a record number of teams this year, with 25 teams represented.  Besides the bragging rights that go along with winning such a prestigious event, the grand champion was awarded a $2,000 cash prize, a sponsorship to Memphis in May for the barbecue contest there and a trophy presented by Senator Johnny Grant and Milledgeville Mayor Richard Bentley. Myron Mixon, member of the team Jack’s Old South, and winner of the 2006 contest at The Sweetwater Festival, shared a few secrets of his success.
“The most important thing to remember is not to overcook your meat,” Mixon said.  “I prefer peach wood, but all the fruit woods are for great for grillin’.”
Mixon has already won two world championships, 11 grand championships this year, and will be competing for his fourth win at Memphis in May.  Since he already has a spot in Memphis in May, Sweetwater will send the team The Exhausted Rooster Club instead.
Junior accounting major Richard Lenderman used the festival as an opportunity to do a project for his marketing class.
“We sold calendars, gift certificates, party trays, and other similar prizes to raise money for Habitat for Humanity,” said Lenderman.  “I heard some great music, ate some good food, and raised $575 in just seven hours.  I’m just glad I got to be there.”
“This whole thing wouldn’t be possible without GCSU,” said Dean of Students and Sweetwater Volunteer Coordinator Beth Rushing.  “I’ve got to say, at least three-fourths of our volunteers are faculty and students and they do a wonderful job. It’s an amazing event and a great opportunity for the college to work with the community for the good of this town.”
Milledgeville Main St. has more downtown events scheduled for later this year, and the earliest ones should be taking place around Christmas.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 10 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry