Music and the smell of barbeque and other delicacies cooking on the grill or gumbo in the pot overwhelmed the sound of outboard motors Saturday as the fourth version of Eagle Lake’s Lake Fest brought people from Vicksburg and county residents and folks from neighboring counties to Eagle Lake for food, music and an early start on Memorial Day.

“We’re hoping to have a better crowd than last year,” said Bill Harris, an Eagle Lake Matters Association board member. “Last year, we had people lined up all the way to the streets. We’ve got more vendors than last year. The vendors that were here last year passed the word on to others, and they came here.”

The event was greeted by mild weather with temperatures in the 70s and a breeze coming off the lake. By 10:30 a.m., cars were already lining portions of Eagle Lake Shore Road and Shell Beach Road, with more people coming in.

Music was provided by Deanna, Guilt Ridden Troubadour and The Chill.

Guilt Ridden Troubadour is from Charleston, S.C., but the band’s lead singer, Reid Stone, is a Vicksburg native and his parents still live here.

“This is our second year here,” said Lloyd Speed of Covington County who with his wife owns a cabin at Eagle Lake. “We came here last year and put it on our calendar for this year. We come here for the atmosphere, the people, the food and the music. The music rates high with us.”

Charlotte Coutch and her husband of Vicksburg brought their 2-year-old granddaughter, Georgia Lee Coutch to Lake Fest to play on the inflatable rides, and Georgia Lee was taking full advantage of the time, bouncing on and exploring one of the attractions.

“We’re babysitting,” Coutch said. “We knew they have a lot of activities for children, so we came. She’s got a dance recital tonight, and momma and daddy are going to get her after her nap.”

Not far from the children’s activities, Glenn and Debbie Lecompte of Houma, La. were doing a volume business selling chicken and sausage gumbo, barbeque and nachos. Glenn Lecompte owns an offshore catering company and did all the cooking.

The Lecomptes own a house on the lake and go there on weekends.

“We leave on Thursday and come back on Monday,” Debbie Lecompte said. “We bought our house after (hurricane) Katrina. I’m a retired nurse, Glenn is semi-retired, so our son runs the company so we can come here on the weekends.”

Vendors Kyle and Leslie Nichols from Raleigh were displaying their wares under a tent on the south side of the Lake Fest grounds, selling homemade jewelry and wooden bowls, and knives.

“Kyle does the bowls,” Leslie Nichols said.

Her husband said he makes the bowls from whatever wood he can find, adding he has wood from a walnut tree from Mississippi Valley State University at his home.

“They were expanding the gym at the college and the trees had to come down,” he said. “I got what I could.”

The festivalgoers also heard from Brig. Gen. Greg Kennedy, commander of the 184th Sustainment Command of the Mississippi National Guard, who addressed the meaning of Memorial Day and stressed support for veterans and people on active duty and in the reserves.

“Veterans,” he said, “Should always be on our minds, but we should also remember our men and women in uniform, because they are the ones who protect the values that are the backbone of our country.

“They are the reason we can do what we’re doing today, sitting here enjoying the music and the weather.”

He also urged people to take time to look at themselves “and find out what you can do to help your community.”