By Jeff Whitten,

Special to the Herald

GUYTON -- Tamela Mydell wasn’t sure how many people would come to the city’s first Foodie Friday on the Trail event May 16.

She was more than pleasantly surprised.

“Honestly, we weren’t looking for this big a turnout,” said Mydell, the owner of the popular Southern Kafé on 17 and a member of the Guyton Downtown Development Authority.

She estimated anywhere from 150-200 people turned out Friday evening for the event, organized by the DDA and Effingham Chamber of Commerce. Those are numbers which should make it easier to move forward with other downtown events. 

That's the plan, according to DDA Chairman Dr. Miller Bargeron. He said Foodie Friday on the Trail is geared toward bringing a sense of community back to the downtown area at a time when the city is facing tremendous population growth due to the proximity of the Hyundai Metaplant in nearby Black Creek. It's just one of a number of things the city hopes to unwrap in the coming months and years. 

“We wanted to do some things to bring families back to downtown Guyton.  If we’re going to build community, we have to be intentional about building community, and that starts by inviting the community to come together and have a good time,” he said, while noting the city is also trying to manage growth.

“The DDA was put together in 2023 to develop the downtown and help businesses and help bring some continuity, and to do some smart growth, controlling growth so we can help keep the nostalgic look and historic feel to the downtown district,” Bargeron said. 

"I'm impressed with the turnout. I was really surprised, quite honestly, and really impressed," Anderson said. 

While Friday’s event saw vendors selling everything from street corn and chicken wings to pork barbecue, iced coffee, soda floats and banana pudding, the DDA also held a ribbon cutting for a mural on the side of a downtown building but made it short so folks could get back to the food. 

The mural artist, Guyton-resident Lindsey Gerow, was on hand with her family – including son Thomas and husband Jonathon, both of whom helped finish the mural – to mark the moment. For her, the ribbon cutting and unveiling of a historical marker alongside marked the end of a journey that began when she was contacted in 2024 by Bargeron to create “a historical piece that reflected the spirit of Guyton,” Gerow said.

She began painting in December and finished in February, she said, battling snow and rain along the way. The founder of Effingham Artists, Gerow said her goal as an artist is to “make art more visible and accessible.

“A lot of people, when they hear about art, they automatically say, ‘I’m not an artist, I don’t understand it,’” she said. “But art is everywhere. It’s all around us and it’s in everything we do, whether it’s in the design of our clothes, the shows we watch or the plates we eat off. Art is everywhere. We just have to become accustomed to looking for it.”

The mural, she said, will help further that goal while also giving Guyton residents a tangible reminder of what makes it a special place. 

“I’m so thankful for this opportunity to serve my hometown and to help make art visible and to brighten our community one brush at a time,” she said.