Fair introduces entertainment to fill stomachs and hearts - The Recorder

GREENFIELD – Led by local DJ Bobby C, attendees of the Franklin County Fair counted back from 10 with gusto, their voices filling the Community Stage’s white tent.

At the end of the countdown, 13 contestants of all ages dug into trays of fried dough the size of small pizzas, biting viciously and furiously. As contestants’ cheeks puffed with dough, the captivated audience clapped rapidly and chanted “Chew! Chew! Chew!”

Only six short minutes ticked by before Jimmy Zellmann, 26, of Greenfield, stood up from the long table as winner of the Franklin County Fair’s first fried dough eating contest on Saturday.

“I’m stoked,” Zellmann said of his victory, and the $100 prize and medal. “We’ve got some money for the fair now.”

But Zellmann said he won’t be eating or going on rides anytime soon. Instead, he’ll get some air, walk and digest, a feeling that was shared by the contest’s 12 other competitors who came together over a love for Hager’s Farm Market’s fried dough with maple cream.

“I just wanted the free fried dough,” said Charity Noyes, 36, of Greenfield, who entered alongside her 13-year-old daughter Kelsey Motyl. “And then it was just to beat the men. I wanted to be the only woman to beat the men.”

And so it was, with Noyes taking third place and earning a $25 prize and medal. It was Noyes’ and Motyl’s first time entering an eating contest, though Motyl confessed to racing her friends to eat Jell-O at home.

An eating contest was also a new experience for 87-year-old contestant Lorraine O’Neil, of Greenfield. But the fried dough was a familiar taste, and an enjoyable part of the fair she hasn’t missed since she was four.

“My son kind of talked me into it,” she said of entering the contest. “I was kind of nervous. I kept thinking ‘I hope I won’t choke!’”

Attracting a new contestant base and larger crowd was all part of the plan for starting a fried dough eating contest, according to Franklin County Fair Entertainment Director Steve DeJoy. The fried dough contest replaced the apple pie eating contest, which had seen waning participation, DeJoy said.

“They’re crowd-pleasers,” DeJoy said of eating contests, noting a hot dog eating contest will be held Sunday for the second year. “We just have to find that one event … And what is more Franklin County Fair than Hager’s fried dough?”

In fact, the fried dough eating contest was so successful, DeJoy said he already has plans for a division for children ages 13 and under next year.

The fried dough eating contest wasn’t the only new feature of the 169th Franklin County Fair, DeJoy said. In addition to having an all-female round of the demolition derby, new food vendors were added, and the Flying High Frisbee Dogs were replaced by The Marvelous Mutts.

The mutts proved to be a popular attraction as well, with spectators ringing a slice of the infield to watch several dogs like a Dutch Shepherd named Ivy catch frisbee after frisbee. Ivy weaved through her handler’s legs and jumped off his back to catch each one, twisting in midair as “Go Big or Go Home” played.

Something’s missing...

Elsewhere at the fair, friends Carlie Millar, 16, of Millers Falls, and Kayleigh Curtiss, also 16, of Erving, walked around the rides trying to decide which one to try next. But the two did notice something was missing: the Ferris wheel.

“When you think of a fair, you think of a Ferris wheel,” said Millar, who has been coming to the Franklin County Fair since she was 8 years old.

Michael Nelson, first vice president of the fair, explained the reason for the difference this year was that when the Ferris wheel arrived, inspectors for the Coleman Brothers’ rides noticed a small crack in one of the Ferris wheel’s main legs.

“Public safety is our priority,” Nelson said. “Out of an abundance of caution, we decided we didn’t want to put the Ferris wheel up … It needed to be evaluated further (and) there was just no time to get it looked at between Wednesday and the fair starting.”

In response, Nelson said, organizers moved around the midway to fill in the extra space. He said that while the Ferris wheel is “obviously a huge staple of every fair,” attendees have been understanding.

“For safety I’m sure it’s great, but it is nice to have a Ferris wheel at the carnival,” agreed Todd LeClair, 53, of Brattleboro, Vt. who attended the fair with his son Trevor LeClair, 16, and Trevor’s friend Gavin Waite, also 16. “(Trevor) doesn’t like many rides, but he likes the Ferris wheel. I would have gone on that one too.”

“You can see half of Greenfield from that,” Curtiss recalled. “But it’s better than having someone fall off of there.”

Regular fair attendees shouldn’t worry, as Nelson said organizers are looking forward to welcoming the Ferris wheel back next year.

Reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com

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