Big crowd in Cadiz for 2007 Ham Fest
Saturday was a busy day for the Netz family. Isaac went to Nashville and Dennis spent the day with the Boy Scouts in Clarksville. I played the piano for a women's service group's district meeting at our church, and then drove over to Cadiz, KY, to meet Keely and her boyfriend at the Trigg County Country Ham Festival.
The Kentucky New Era (KNE) had reported that Cadiz was expecting up to 60,000 visitors over the weekend, and there was definitely a huge crowd there when I arrived at about 4:00 p.m.I found a parking place right away at the First Baptist Church lot, just east of the festival area. I walked down the hill and with the help of the cell phone, found Keely and her group.
Dozens of booths (over 200, according to the KNE) lined the sidewalks, and the air was full of the aroma of food. Vendors were selling country ham biscuits, as well as the usual corn dogs, popcorn, etc. Other booths had all sorts of merchandise. "Ms. Triggy" was posing for pictures with children, and clowns were making balloon animals. Keely said there were carnival rides in the area where she had parked.
The hog-calling contest was in progress. Several ladies called first. The winner was decided after a "call-off" between the top two contenders, and she received a $50 savings bond. Then the men competed. One fellow embellished his hog call with his interpretation of hog snuffling. Another fellow gave an "Ozark hog call," and another contestant declined the microphone because he had plenty of natural volume. The winner was decided by applause, and another $50 savings bond was awarded.
We went in several of the antique stores. Keely tried on some old hats and I bought 8 old snapshots at the bargain price of 4/$1.00 and an accompanist's edition of the 1966 Methodist Hymnal. Here's a yo-yo quilt I saw in one of the stores. (I've written about the nice antique stores in Cadiz before.)
Cadiz has many concrete pigs on the sidewalks in front of the stores and even in front of some of the houses. I think they are probably a Chamber of Commerce project or something similar. Each one has a unique paint job. They're very cute. A few samples:
I had to get home so I could get food ready for a church potluck dinner, so I left at about 6:30 p.m. A country singer was entertaining a big crowd as I walked back to my car, and the streets were still packed with people. When I stopped at the gas station on the way out of town, a beautiful sunset was lighting the sky.
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