Y’ALL, July/August, 2008, Volume 6, Number 3, page 9

Sweet Tea Challenge, Gainesville, GA.

Just before World War II, Gainesville, Ga., resident Jesse Jewell had a plan to turn the North Georgia city into the poultry capital of the nation. Prior to his factory-like approach to raising chickens, poultry was primarily grown on individual farms. After Jewell convinced enough farmers that his way would yield more profits, Gainesville became the Chicken Capital of the World.

To honor Gainesville’s role in this important industry, each year people crowd to Roosevelt Square and enjoy chicken cooked every way you can imagine. The Spring Chicken Festival offers all attendees the chance to buy a bracelet and eat all the chicken possible. The chicken is prepared by local restaurants, civic organizations, local businesses and a few high-ranking amateurs that roll their grills onto the grounds to cook for the masses.

While all of the chicken chefs were competing for an array of chicken-cooking awards, a number of area restaurants and businesses were competing for the areas best sweet tea in the Y’all Magazine Sweet Tea Challenge, presented by Amtrak. The Lake Lanier Convention and Visitors Bureau partnered with Y’all Magazine and Amtrak to bring the Sweet Tea Challenge to Georgia for the first time. Contestants competed in the following four categories: Best Commercial Sweet Tea (restaurant), Best Individual Sweet Tea, Most Unique Tea, and Best Yankee Tea (unsweet).

Festival attendees got the chance to sample and vote as often as they wanted in the commercial category. The names of the businesses were kept anonymous until after the results were announced. A panel of judges sampled and ranked the other categories.

At the end of the festival the results were announced. Jake’s Cafeteria won the award for Best Commercial Sweet Tea. Best Individual Sweet Tea honors went to Hall County resident Randy Sheppard. The awards for Best Yankee Tea and Most Unique Tea both went to Georgia Bulldog fan Doug Shehan.

The winners of each category received a prize pack from the Lake Lanier CVB and two first class round-trip tickets on Amtrak’s Crescent line to New Orleans, La.
Future Sweet Tea Challenges are in the works with the next one scheduled for Florence, Ala., at the W.C. Handy Festival on July 26.

“Best Individual Sweet Tea” winner Randy Sheppard with Y’all Magazine publishers keith sisson and Jon Rawl. (l-R)

Doug Shehan, winner of both the “best yankee tea” and “Most Unique Sweet Tea” Pictured with Jon Rawl (l-r)

Jake’s Cafeteria won the award for “Best Commercial Sweet Tea.” Keith Sisson plans on becoming a junior conductor for amtrak after retiring from the magazine business!

Its “all you can Eat” chicken Time!

There’s always chicks at the spring chicken festival