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Paul:

We talk a lot about passion on this podcast, a passion for community, a passion for the city, a passion to serve, and that's exactly what our guest today is all about. Hey, it's Paul Wolf with a front row seat to conversations on culture from Jackson, Mississippi. We call our podcast Soul Sessions, and it's the people, places and events that make the City With Soul shine.

Today, De Shannon Williams is one of the owners of Smokey's Meal on Wheels food truck, and she's an organizer of Food Truck Fridays, which have returned to Smith Park in downtown Jackson every first, third and fifth Friday. And De Shannon, well, needless to say, she's been tenacious in bringing back this pre-pandemic favorite event.

De Shannon:

Right after the pandemic, I reached out to Busy Jackson, the city of Jackson. It was just kind of a loop for a while trying to get the right information, but I think probably about a year ago I got in touch with the right person that was able to offer me some insight and we've kind of been moving forward since then.

Paul:

The Food Truck Friday is an event that happened once a month before the pandemic, of course, and was so popular, so many food trucks. Did you all participate in Food Truck Friday when it was a thing before?

De Shannon:

Absolutely. We were there every month and we were excited about it and downtown was excited about it. And as a matter of fact, one of the things that kind of put the fire behind us to get it going again was people in our inbox, why are you all going to start the food truck Friday again? Are they looking at implementing that again? So they kind of put the spark behind us to get the information to see if it was something that we were able to host or spearhead.

Paul:

Yeah, it was your customers and your fans just coming to you and saying, Hey, when are you going to be back down here again, right?

De Shannon:

Yes. And that and us communicating with other food truckers that love the idea, some of which were there pre-pandemic, others who were not there, them saying that they would be more than excited about being a part of it. It kind of made it come together.

Paul:

Yeah, because that food truck landscape really has changed. It looks quite different than it did before the pandemic. Can you speak to that and tell me more about it?

De Shannon:

Well, it's more people. It's a lot more trucks and vendors now. You got the food trucks, you have the food trailers, and I don't really partake much in the food tent. There's one lady that is down there, Vibes Cuisine, because she was able to provide me with all the documentation with her health inspection and things like that. But the food truck scene has grown. It's enormous now. It's not too many places you can look around just in the greater Jackson area where you don't have someone that's food trucking, and then when you go outside of Jackson, it's getting more prevalent as well.

Paul:

Now you mentioned health department and certifications and licenses. In part you're organizing this food truck Friday every first, third and fifth Friday. And you're serious about this, aren't you?

De Shannon:

I am because I mean, there's a standard. You have some that just want to come out and sell. I want to make sure that we are delivering a good product, we're delivering a safe product. So I'm getting a lot of calls, but the first thing that my husband and I are asking is for health inspection, ServSafe certification, insurance. Even though because we're getting the permit, we're required to have a certain amount of insurance, so we want it to be safe. We want a good product, we want a customer friendly product. And just to be an overall good experience for everybody, the truckers and the customers that patronize.

Paul:

Yeah, that's the only way to do it. Right? Keep it organized, keep it safe, and make sure everybody's following the same playbook.

De Shannon:

Absolutely.

Paul:

What does the crowd look like since you started this? It's been a few months now, and of course we've gone from spring to the heat of summer. So I understand it can fluctuate a little bit, but have people received Food Truck Friday being back at Smith Park?

De Shannon:

The response has been very good. It hasn't been pre-pandemic good where the crowds were just flooding out, but they've responded. The very first one, in spite of all of our efforts to kind of get the word out there on social media and things like that, a lot of people caught us just by happenstance. They were going to get other foods and saw all the food trucks in here, and even then it was a good day. And the times after that, we saw the numbers increase. So I seen the potential for it to get back to a point of pre-pandemic. People see food truck and most businesses know and understand that the food truck is an amenity to any event. We add that pop, that wow to most events. That's why they're always calling us to be a part of it, but it's a lot of work.

Paul:

Well, your passion is definitely there. I knew when you landed in my inbox and we started an email chain back and forth and you were on top of it, and I said, uh-oh, she's serious about this! Why did you want to take on the organization, as such, of getting all these food trucks to one spot every first, third, and fifth Friday at Smith Park downtown?

De Shannon:

I love to cook. I love to serve. I love to interact with people. Even though the food truck part of my husband and myself, it's not a full-time job for us. It's still something that we're passionate about and just the other people who are doing it full-time, it's their livelihood. So I thought it would be great to have opportunities for them that enhances their livelihood.

And of course, when we do well as individuals in our businesses, it helps us be productive citizens for the beautiful city of Jackson. So if we can get to the point where we're able to provide our service and people are happy with our service, then it's us also pouring into our city. This is something that has always been positive. Pre-pandemic, it was something that people were looking forward to, people enjoyed. The vibe was amazing, and what we've done, what the city has done with Smith Park, it just felt like the right thing to do. And who better to do it than me?

Paul:

Well, we've gotten through the business end of things. Now we got to get into the good stuff. We got to talk about the food itself. What are we going to find at a food truck Friday?

De Shannon:

I try to make sure we have a diverse menu. So of course with Smokey's Meal on Wheels, wherever we go and a lot of other food trucks, they don't understand our model, but it works for us because we don't just say, Hey, we're doing catfish and chicken wings. When we go out to any festival event, we're going to have something for everybody. If you want barbecue, I have barbecue. Not just regular barbecue but barbecue that you're going to enjoy. We offer chicken on the sticks. We have catfish, chicken wings, loaded fries and nachos, flavored lemonade.

We have Mr Turkey Leg who's normally a regular vendor. He has some amazing stuffed turkey legs. My husband and I, we love to eat and that's kind of where the passion of our menu comes from. We make any restaurant a buffet, but for those who are not like us in regards to how they eat, we have Road Dogs. They offer walking tacos and hot dogs. We have other vendors, Crooked Letter Kitchen. He has a very diverse and unique menu. The Vibes Cuisine lady, she has a Jamaican cuisine. Dab's Chicken and Waffles, they have chicken and waffle on a stick. Mississippi Tail Gators, he's the one that'll bring us some burger options and things like that.

So we try to keep a wide variety of vendors. That's going to give you a diverse option. If you don't want something heavy, we have lighter things. I was communicating with, Oops All Vegan at our Friday night event. So hopefully with upcoming events we'll have those vegan options as well. And I don't know if you paid attention when you were down there on Friday, we have the dessert Sirod's Sweetz, and we usually try to have a snow cone or ice cream vendor, especially for these high days.

Paul:

What do you want to say, De Shannon, to folks who maybe haven't been to Food Truck Friday before and want to give it a chance?

De Shannon:

I would say, come on down. The only way for us to be successful in making this available to you is if you come and partake.

Paul:

That's my conversation with De Shannon Williams, the organizer of Food Truck Fridays. 10 to 2, every first, third, and fifth Friday at Smith Park. De Shannon says they have expansion plans to create other food truck events around the downtown Jackson area. So stay tuned. We'll keep you posted on those events and every food truck Friday at visitjackson.com.

Soul Sessions is produced by Visit Jackson, the destination organization for Mississippi's Capital City. Our executive producers are Jonathan Pettus and Dr. Rickey Thigpen, and I am our managing editor. You want to know more about the things happening in our city, the events, the upcoming developments and more, but you can always find those at visitjackson.com. I'm Paul Wolf and you've been listening to Soul Sessions.

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