Potato Feast Days great for all ages

by Staff Pioneer Times
17 years ago

After being tied in with the bicentennial celebration in the summer of 2007, the Potato Feast Days made a come-back with it’s own identity this year.
     “It went extremely well. The weather cooperated beautifully, like we put in an order for it. It was just picture perfect, and there was a steady crowd all day long, so that was nice,” explained Lori Weston of the Chamber of Commerce.
The weekend of crafts and potato themed competitions, which revolved around Monument Park, began on Friday morning with the opening of the Quilting Guild’s annual show. Art lovers from all over the area flocked to the Elks Club to see flawlessly quilted clothes of all sizes and colors.
     Later in the afternoon spectators lined up along Main St. to watch the annual Parade of Dolls. Unlike the typical fourth of July parade, this event had no big commercial floats, no political campaign slogans, and no marching bands. The entire parade was made up of young boys and girls, pushing and pulling some of their favorite baby dolls and toys with them as they marched around the town square.
The following morning, venders filled Monument Park for the annual craft fair. The booths that covered the grass surrounding the Cary Library offered everything from sports memorabilia to arts and crafts, and one booth even sported live animals.
The Chamber of Commerce sponsored numerous potato themed events, ranging from a Mr. Potato Head contest, to women’s potato peeling. Olivia Winslow took the gold for Mr. Potato Head contest with her sculpture of a Hawaiian hula dancer and her pet elephant. Yvonne Blake won the potato salad making contest,  with Pat Hines and Mim Nichols tied in second place. Finally, Stephanie Larson took first place for the potato peeling contest, in a very unique and exciting competition.
Although this year’s Potato Feast Days was a successful weekend, plans have already been made to make next year’s Potato Feast Days even better.
“We certainly are going to look at ways to expand the events that we have,” said Weston.