Sun shines down, festival attendance up
Sunshine rained down on this year’s 61st annual Florida Seafood Festival, and amusement park rides twirled once again, making for what was by most accounts a successful event.
“We were up from last year,” said John Solomon, president of the all-volunteer board of directors. “I think it was a great festival. Everybody was happy and pleased. Attendance was great.”
An enormous crowd lined U.S. 98 for the parade on Saturday morning, which moved along amidst sunny weather. Because it was an election year, the parade was particularly long, and there was plenty of candy for kids to fetch.
The festivities got underway right on time at Riverfront Park as several local pastors, from churches throughout Franklin County, conducted the Blessing of the Fleet, under the direction of Cherly Fritsch-Middleton, pastor at Forgotten Coast Community Church.
A wreath of fresh picked flowers was dropped in the river to commemorate those lost at sea, and one by one the clergymen and women voiced prayers for the safety of the boats passing by, led by the Seafood Festival Queen OIivia Poloronis and her grandfather Leslie Lemieux, who served as King Retsyo, aboard the Mr. Ellis shrimp boat.
After the festival royalty welcomed everyone to the festival at Battery Park, the festival was fully underway.
The Christian music headliner, Riley Clemmons, dressed in torn jeans and wearing a smile as big as the bay, delighted the audience with her array of inspiring songs.
Saturday morning’s parade was led by parade marshal Fonda Davis, and once again included floats from as far away as the Krewes in Panama City to Tallahassee to local organizations.
The oyster eating contest, which followed the oyster shucking competition, (See page A3), was won by Tallahassee’s Hugh Wyckoff, who ate 16 dozen and eight in the space of 15 minutes.
“I just swallowed them whole, I just like to buy and eat seafood,” he said, noting that he entered it for the first time, because his daughter Savannah had decided to compete.
He said he skipped breakfast, and had eaten only a small dinner last night.
Finishing second, in the mens division, was Richard Buckalew, from Indian View, who ate 15 dozen and three. Third place was won by Tommy Earnest, with 12 dozen and three.
In the women’s division, Dana Taylor, of Eastpoint, a member of a family that has long worked in the seafood industry, won with 12 dozen even.
“I’ve eaten them all my life,” she said. “I love ‘em’ love ‘em, love ‘em.”
Finishing in second place was Keria Gibson, from Perry, who ate 11 dozen and 10, and in third was Teresa White, of Panama City.
The festival featured a large number of arts and crafts booths, and none was as popular as the cane syrup operation brought by Harrison’s Traditions from Cairo, Georgia.
Neal Harrison, who comes from a long line of cane sugar farmers who once worked for Roddenberry’s, started the company in 2015 after growing up with it.
He offers freshly poured cane syrup, as well as jellies made from mayhaw berries, as well as stone ground grits and cornmeal.
A steady stream of visitors fed the festival coffers all day long, and the featured entertainer Mark Wills drew an ample crowd, who reveled in his playing of country hits from the ‘90s and later, including “I Do (Cherish You)” that brought them back to the days when they first fell in love, and married and had children.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.