Did you miss the Beach Boogie & BBQ event over Labor Day weekend? This end-of-summer event that draws the annual Myrtle Beach Sun Fun Festival to a close was a huge success and a jewel in the crown of our Chamber of Commerce and the local Shriners. Price & Company Realty’s Tom & Linda Hammond were there!

When we arrived, we were greeted at the handicapped parking area by a truly happy gentleman. As we walked around we were continually greeted by friendly folks, who were thoroughly enjoying themselves, while working to see that all of the guests had a great day. Everything was planned perfectly. Parking was well laid-out with plenty of shuttle busses and golf carts to take you where you wanted to go; driven by happy, courteous people!

The Wheels At The Beach Antique Car Show was terrific! I fell in love with a 1960 white Corvette with silver inserts and black leather upholstery.

Interspersed along the wandering paths around the lake and fountain were local vendors, set up in tents and displaying their wares, including jewelry, games and food. The vendors themselves were an outstanding group of friendly folks having a great time.

Beach music abounded for the entire day, featuring local bands and vocal groups including The Embers, The Footnotes and The Sound Factory. I loved hearing those old sounds that bring back memories of time spent shagging on the beach. Also included on the slate of performers was a marvelous little 7 1/2 year old girl with a great big voice named Gabbie Rae. Remember her name; you’ll be hearing about her again!

Let’s not forget about the food! On Friday, there was the Anything But Pork competition, but Saturday featured the Official Barbeque Competition of South Carolina, called Smoke On The Beach, which made the whole place smell delicious! This was a good thing, since there was barbeque for sale everywhere you looked throughout the event site. But the food highlight was the International Federation of Competitive Eating’s BBQ Sandwich Eating Championship. The winner ate 45 sandwiches in just 10 minutes, followed close behind by a young professional eater with 43.5 sandwiches and a tiny lady professional eater with 25. A local man, non-professional, managed to eat 23 sandwiches in 10 minutes. That means that the winner ate four and a half sandwiches per minute! He is now the World Champion Pulled Pork Sandwich Eater as well as Coney Island Hot Dog Eater Champion!

Kids were well entertained with inflatable rides, games, balloon art, spider jump, tethered hot air balloon rides and more at the Wendy’s Kids Zone.

The success of this festival, only in its second year, is a fine example of how well our community works together to show off our beach and entertainment to the rest of the world. To everyone involved: Well Done!