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Nine area restaurants competed Saturday at
Jubilee Amusement Park at Carolina Beach to see who had the best
chowder around these parts. The competition was fierce
through most of the day and it was a close call for the judges
as well as the people in attendance, but in the end, Michael's
Seafood took the day.
The event was sponsored by the Pleasure Island Chamber of
Commerce and reported record attendance, with far more people
showing up this year than the twenty-two hundred folk who came
out last year to sample the best the island had to offer and
give their votes for who cooks up the best chowder.
With the great weather. amazing performances by bands like
"Plain White Bread" and |
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"The Usuals" as well as the help from
some eighty volunteers, the day went off without a hitch.
"I am just so pleased" said Kitty Flortentio, one of the organizers
of the event. "We did a lot of planning, and the event came out
great and I think everyone had a great time."
"I want to give a special thanks to Judy Shaw and Kitty
Flortentio," said co-organizer Helen Wilson. These two have
really done it and worked hard on this thing. If it weren't for
these two and their committee, this wouldn't have been
possible."
The restaurants in competition were Freddie's Restaurant, The
Lighthouse Restaurant, Mariner's Edge, Michael's Seafood, The
Sawmill Restaurant, Seasons by the Sea, The SeaWitch Cafe, The
Cape Golf and Racquet Club, and the Fish House Grill. All of the
restaurants were required to provide tastes of their finest
chowder, which were voted on |
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by citizens
through anonymous ballot during the five and a half hour event.
Throughout the day hopes were high at the Sawmill Restaurant camp who provided a great tasting
chowder with crab meat. "We've won two years in a row," said
Elizabeth Neal, an employee at The Sawmill Restaurant before the
judging. "I think there's a pretty good chance we'll win."
The judgments came down at around four-thirty, showing The
Sawmill as runner-up in the judge's choice, with Michael's
Seafood in the winning spot. After the judge's choice was
announced, the much coveted "People's Choice" award was
announced. The Lighthouse took second runner-up, while The
Sawmill took took first runner-up, and again, Michael's Seafood
was named the best chowder in the land. "Nothing's more exciting
than the people's choice," said Shelly McGowan as she took the
stage to receive the trophy. "You guys are why we are in
business!"
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