Local businesses get exposure at Expo 2008
BY LISA NEWELL Gulf Breeze News lisa@gulfbreezenews.com

Lisa Newell/Gulf Breeze News Jimmy Wilcher of Cabo Grill serves food to Barbara McGlynn at the Taste of Expo, the Friday night event which was a new addition to the Expo festivities.

Thousands of people visited local businesses, sampled food, filled bags with free notepads and other free items and enjoyed music and other free performances.

The occasion was the 19th annual Gulf Breeze Expo, the event at the South Santa Rosa Recreation Center on Shoreline Drive sponsored by the Gulf Breeze Area Chamber of Commerce.

This year, over 135 exhibitors participated in the event with booths indoors and out.

"Thirty-seven of the exhibitors were non profit charity groups and civic groups who received their booths for free," said Meg Peltier, President of the Gulf Breeze Chamber.

Entertainment was provided by the Sawmill band, the Oriole Beach Fifth Grade Chorus, BETA Children's Theatre and Sexton's Tae Kwon Do.

This year, the Gulf Breeze Chamber expanded the Friday night event to include "Taste of Expo," inviting several restaurants to provide food for members of all area chambers. Entertainment was provided by Al Martin on keyboards, accompanied by Holly Shelton and Karen Jurkowich.

Picture courtesy of David Standridge The Oriole Beach Elementary School fifth grade chorus lines up for a picture during the Gulf Breeze Expo on March 15.

Participating restaurants were Wine Adventures, The Restaurant at Tiger Point Golf Club, Moe's Southwest Grill, Verde, Bamboo Willie's, Cabo Grill, Cici's Wine's, Florida Pizza Kitchen, Mr. Margarita and Hemingway's Island Grill. The restaurants competed for the Golden Spatula awards.

Karen Jurkowich chaired the event, which was well attended by many chamber members.

"We got positive feeback on the Taste of Expo and the Expo itself," Peltier said. She estimates attendance at 2,500 to 3,000, with a steady stream of visitors coming in throughout the event.

Lisa Newell/Gulf Breeze News Dancing broke out when musicians Al Martin and Holly Shelton began performing at the highly successful Taste of Expo chamber after hours on Friday night. Resort Realty sponsored the music for the event which kicked off Expo 2008.