Madison distiller makes history

Corey Manar and his wife, Angel, stood in line for more than 40 minutes Saturday afternoon to get a photo of their 6-year-old son, Cruz, with former moonshine runner and NASCAR legend Junior Johnson.

Johnson was in Madison on Saturday as part of the first-ever Shinefest, sponsored by Piedmont Distillers and the Southern Culture Society. He and his son, Robert, who started racing in local Sportsman Class divisions this spring, were on hand to greet visitors and sign autographs.

The Manars, who moved to North Carolina a few months ago from Nashville, Tenn., said they just heard about the Shinefest event last Tuesday on Facebook.

“I saw it mentioned and was immediately intrigued,” said Corey Manar. “It seemed like it had a little of everything – moonshine, cars, race drivers, music and food. Of course the moonshine stood out first, then everything else just made it sound that much better.”

The Manar family represented just three people out of thousands crowding the streets of Madison over the weekend – all drawn by the magical mixture of moonshine and racing legends.

Another family from Raleigh stood in a line waiting for a chance to tour the distillery located in the former Madison Train Depot. Moving slowly forward over 30 minutes, they got to know a family from Sandy Ridge and a woman from Greensboro waiting in line with them.

“I just saw it mentioned online Wednesday night,” said Janet Morgan of Raleigh. “It sounded like the ideal day trip.”

Joe Michalek, founder of Piedmont Distillers, said the crowds attending Shinefest took everyone involved with the inaugural edition of the event by surprise.

“My early predictions ranged anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000, depending on how I felt that day,” said Michalek. “But the best estimates I got from people over the weekend said we had between 10,000 and 12,000. Needless to say, we’re all amazed at the turnout and anxious to start thinking about how we can expand it for next year.”

Michalek said he first got the idea for Shinefest while attending local bluegrass festivals, where someone would eventually uncork a jug of moonshine. The enthusiasm demonstrated by people trying the brew for the first time encouraged Michalek to create a way to legally produce the alcoholic beverage.

Piedmont Distillers now handcrafts three distinctive flavors in an authentic copper-pot still in the Madison location. Starting with the original Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, Piedmont Distillers added Midnight Moon and Midnight Moon Lemonade after Junior Johnson joined the firm as a partner in 2007.

Michalek said more than 1,700 people toured the distillery Saturday and Sunday. Early discussions about the distillery tours focused on groups of 12 to 15 every 20 minutes, but Michalek said he warned his staff that plan would not allow everyone interested to see the facility.

“We started the day Saturday with groups of 15 to 20, but soon moved that up to 30 or more,” he said. “The line stayed steady all day Saturday and some people said they waited as long as an hour-and-a-half.”

People came to Madison for Shinefest from places as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia, according to Michaelk. Since no one under 21 was allowed on the distillery tour – which ended with an opportunity to sample the company’s three flavors – without being accompanied by an adult, Michalek said employees checked IDs. Those employees reported seeing IDs from New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Ohio and Florida, as well as Vancouver.

“I couldn’t believe the kind of exposure this event received on such short notice,” Michalek said. “We definitely learned a lot this year and already know we’ll need to expand next year.”

This year’s Shinefest basically incorporated the one-block stretch of East Murphy Street between Market and Dalton streets. Michalek wants to expand to additional blocks next year to accommodate more vendors and more people without overcrowding.

He also wants to move the event to September to provide warmer weather and more hours of sunlight.

“This year shows that this could really become a major event for our part of the state,” Michalek said. “I can’t wait to see how big it might grow.”

Shinefest proceeds were designated to benefit the non-profit organization, Southern Culture Society, whose mission is to celebrate, promote and educate people on the cultural richness of the American South; specifically its music, food, art, crafts, spirits and car racing.