Last Thursday was a pretty tiring day for me.

Leading up to the 12th annual Taste of the South event fundraiser that was held at Heritage Park, I spent most of the day designing the fall edition of @MORE, which I’m really proud of and can’t wait for you all to see.

By the time the taste event was nearing, I was spent. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect and I hoped that it would provide a much-needed spark.

Taste of the South didn’t provide a spark. It was more like a blowtorch.

From the time I arrived at the park, I was like a busy little bee, running around and taking pictures for the newspaper and magazine alike.

I couldn’t help but be amazed at how many vendors — 26 — that came out to the event.

Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sheryl Vickery said the chamber hoped that the vendors would encircle the park. The vendors did and showed out as each gave a small portion of what the south tastes like.

The crowd was huge at around 5:45 p.m.; so huge Vickery said she had to recycle tickets so people could get in the door.

The most memorable thing I can take away from my first ever Taste of the South experience is the expression on people’s faces as they mingled with others.

Not one time did I see a frown, but smiles all around.

Many people came up to me to introduce themselves and to welcome me to Atmore and Escambia County, which was nice and much appreciated.

By the end of the evening, I was still buzzing with excitement.

I came back to the office, wrote a short story, put up a picture gallery on our website and called it a night.

Leaving the office, I thought I hope that we have more events like this in the future.

There is Williams Station Day on Oct. 24 that will help wet the appetite before the next big event.

I’m hoping that WSD will be as big as Taste of the South, but this year’s taste event will be one that I’ll never forget.