En Fuego attendance tops 20 thousand

Saturday's En Fuego drew easily more than 20,000 people to the Verbena hillside where the Christian music festival is held annually. This was the 10th year for the event, and it exceeded all expectations.

"In comparison to last year, it was just ridiculous," said cofounder Johnny Giles. "We sold all our bottled water and emptied our Pepsi trailer."

More than 160 decisions were made - among them 69 professions of faith (four of which were inmates from the County Jail), 79 recommitments, 12 surrenders to full-time Christian service, and seven other type decisions.

"That's the reason we do what we do," he said. "It's not just for people to have fun, but also for decisions to be made and lives to be changed."

Another goal of the En Fuego staff is to pull the community together corporately, and it was obvious that goal was met in the large number of local sponsors and volunteers that helped support the event physically, financially and prayerfully.

Mark Gray, owner of Peach Park, was among the vendors for the first time this year. He said business was booming at the top of the hillside Saturday night.

"It was a good experience. We enjoyed doing it, and we look forward to doing it next year," he said.

The majority of area churches participated at some level in supporting the event, said Chilton Baptist Association Director of Missions Larry Felkins.

"En Fuego draws a lot of attention to Christ and the Christian faith, and that's the focal point," he said. "Any method that will do that without changing the message has got to be a good thing."

It seems the only negative side of En Fuego was the lack of adequate parking space. Without any blacktop near County Road 23, people had to park along both sides of the road for over a mile - that is, after a large field and a couple of generous neighbors' front yards filled to capacity.

The gates had to be closed at 6 p.m. but people were still coming in, Giles said.

"The physical site is plenty big enough, but we may have to think about shuttle parking in the future," he said.

Waste Authority to hire 3 employees

THORSBY - The Chilton County Solid Waste Authority voted last night to begin the advertising process for a three-person crew to manage a solid waste transfer station scheduled to open in Thorsby next month.

En Fuego attendance tops 20 thousand

Saturday's En Fuego drew easily more than 20,000 people to the Verbena hillside where the Christian music festival is held annually. This was the 10th year for the event, and it exceeded all expectations.