By J.R. Tidwell / Editor

Members of the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce may have been holding their breath as heavy downpours and strong winds engulfed the area on June 28, just a day ahead of the annual Peach Jam. After all, the event was rained out just a year ago.

The weather held off the next day, however, and Peach Jam was able to go off without a hitch on June 29.

“I tried my best not to think about it,” said Chamber president Brad Carter. “There was some worry. We made a second attempt last year. We talked about maybe moving it downtown because of the weather. We had faith, and the weather was on our side this year. It’s been perfect I think.”

Two bands, a DJ who emceed the event and over 100 vendors converged on Clanton City Park in what Carter said was one of the best Peach Jams he had ever been a part of.

“We had 12 food vendors, and we also had a free kids area with a whole baseball field full of inflatables,” he said. “The whole event is free. The volunteers were huge.

“We couldn’t do it without the sponsors and the vendors, the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office, Clanton city police, the city of Clanton and all of our Chamber members. It’s a team effort. We all come together to make this happen.”

Carter said Peach Jam has been an annual occurrence as long as he can remember and is the biggest event the Chamber puts on each year.

“It’s a really good opportunity for businesses to show themselves off by setting up booths,” he said. “I think it’s a big opportunity for the businesses to be a part of something like this. It’s been fantastic. I don’t know if it could be better. All the puzzle pieces just fell into place.”

The city of Clanton allows the Chamber to use Clanton City Park each year to host the event.

“I would like to thank Sally Wall with the Clanton City Park crew,” Carter said. “Sally is huge in helping us make this successful. She and her crew take care of the maintenance of the property. We come in and take it over, and we try to leave it the way we found it.”