Choctaw Heritage Festival
By Sharon Shepherd Special to the Times

You need to mark your calendars right now for the 2007 Choctaw Heritage Festival set for May 30th through June 2nd in Gilbertown!

The Heritage Church will be the place to be on Wednesday night, May 30th, for the Heritage Festival Gospel Singing. If this event is anything like it was last year, you definitely want to be there. The singing was very inspirational and such a sweet, sweet spirit filled the church!

Thursday night, May 31st, will feature a variety of music for all kinds of music lovers. In fact, if your group would like to participate, contact the Gilbertown Town Hall and get on the line up to perform. This special "Music Night" will spot light soul, rhythm and blues, good ole rock and roll, and gospel music in downtown Gilbertown. Bring your lawn chairs and come 'tap your feet'! Also, on Thursday night the Ballet & Theatre Arts Performing Companies will present "Smoke on the Mountain" at 8 p.m. Tickets for this performance are $10 each.

The SCHS football field, south of Gilbertown, will be set up with a big stage, big sound and big lights for Friday night's huge Choctaw County Heritage Festival Gospel Bluegrass "Sangin'" on June 1st. The gates will open at 6 p.m. and the "sangin'" starts at 7 p.m. Tickets for this show are $10 each. They are available at the Gilbertown Town Hall. Concessions will be sold Friday night and everyone is encouraged to bring their lawn chairs. Groups signed up to perform include Crimson City Quartet, Cullomburg Quartet, The Lindsey Family, Jimmy Mosley and Southern Praise.

Downtown Gilbertown will be buzzing on Saturday, June 2nd, when the Heritage Festival Parade kicks off Saturday's events at 9 a.m. The parade will feature motorcycles and antique automobiles. Leading the parade will be the Heritage Festival Kings and Queens. To enter this competition children in grades K-6 and 7-12 will collect money to help defray the cost of the Festival. The winning King and Queen in grades K-6 and grades 7-12 will be determined by the two in each group collecting the most money. To enter this competition pick up an entry form at Gilbertown Town Hall or you can get one at your school. The winning Kings and Queens will get to keep one-half of the money they raised.

Participants in the Colgate® Country Showdown will compete in Gilbertown on Saturday. Contact Darryl Jackson at WPRN Radio Station in Butler for information on the Showdown. The winner of this competition will open Saturday night's country music show.

Arts and crafts vendors and food vendors will be set up through Gilbertown. If you would like to be a vendor contact Mayor Bobby Graham or Town Clerk Alice Carlisle at the Town Hall in Gilbertown. The phone number is (251) 843-2766. Each town or community in Choctaw County is also solicited to set up a booth/display promoting your town, community and heritage as a part of this Choctaw County Heritage event.

Now to the "biggy" the two performers for the Heritage Festival Saturday night show on the SCHS football field have been announced and you now know who they are. You will not want to miss hearing Clay Walker and Rhett Akins. Their music is pleasing to the ears (and ladies) their looks are pleasing to the eyes!!! Gates will open at 4 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m. Tickets to the show are on sale for $25 each at the Naheola Credit Union (Pennington), Regions Bank (Butler & Gilbertown), First United Security Bank (Butler, Gilbertown, Coffeeville & Thomasville), First Community Bank (Millry, Chatom & Citronelle), West Ala. Bank & Trust (Butler), Merchant's Bank (Jackson), Village Shoppe (Gilbertown), Gilbertown Town Hall and Bonita Lakes Mall (Meridian). Tickets are also available online through www.ticketweb.com.

You are encouraged to bring your lawn chairs for Saturday night's show and concessions will be sold, No food or drink can be brought into the stadium and no passes out will be allowed. If you leave the show and come back you will have to pay again to enter. Bags will be checked. This is a family oriented event and no alcoholic beverages will be allowed. Security will be provided for the safety of everyone attending the show.

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