Talladega’s inaugural fall race block party and Davey Allison Memorial Walk of Fame induction ceremony is now one for the books, and appears to have been an overall success. The attendance was good, the weather was perfect, and there were outstanding musical performances and more quality barbecue than you could shake a stick at.

“This is a great idea,” Talladega City Council President and vendor Donnie Miller said. “The community came to enjoy the evening, and this is really the kind of thing you need to help a community prosper. My hat is off to (Activities Committee Talladega and the Greater Talladega Area Chamber of Commerce) for putting this together. The folks that didn’t come out really missed out. Hopefully we’ll see even more people next year. But this is definitely a positive.”

A spokeswoman for T.B. Turner Interior Design also said “We had good traffic today, but I think we might have gotten a larger crowd if we set up on the square. Still, it’s been a good event, and we will be back next year.”

Location was crucial, according to some. TOP Trails board member Ray Miller helped man an information booth, and while he was pleased with the turnout for the event, he said he was disappointed at the traffic he was seeing. “But we’re pretty far away from any of the food vendors, so that probably makes a difference.”

A spokeswoman from A.J.’s Cool Spot agreed. “It’s been slower on this end, so I would like to see it pick up some. But we also decided not to bring everything we usually do because other people had it to. Still, this is a very nice event, and we will be back.”

Dawn Clary at the New Life Church booth saw steady business, however. “We’ve really seen good traffic. We’ve sold a lot of fresh vegetables and home baked bread and pies. We will definitely be back next year. And it’s also a great way to advertise our church garden at New Life Church on Alabama 21. We have a sale at the church every Friday and Saturday, too.”

The evening’s festivities paused at 7 p.m. for the induction of Brad Keselowski and Bill Rexford into the Walk of Fame, then a fireworks display.

Contact Chris Norwood at cnorwood@dailyhome.com