Annual Ridge Peach Festival continues rise in attendance 6/20/2009 11:07 PM
By SUZANNE R. STONE Staff writer
TRENTON -- Church Street Park was full of sunshine and good times Saturday throughout the 39th Annual Ridge Peach Festival. Live broadcasts from the festival site Friday evening by the WJBF Channel 6 News helped bring out the crowds to Trenton on Saturday. The festival opened with a parade at 10:30 a.m. through downtown, and admission to the festival site on Church Street was free all day. "We saw it on TV last night, and we wanted something to do today, so we came over from Georgia," said Mary Frances Thorn of Wrens, Ga. "We love peaches, and we're especially loving the peach ice cream here." Couples danced to live music provided by local acts, and more than 100 vendors had food and drink, handcrafts, clothing, jewelry and demonstrations on hand. For little attendees, carnival games and rides, a bungee jump and a rock climbing wall were set up on the festival grounds, as well. But the real attraction was the peaches. Area bakers brought out their finest recipes for peach cobbler, pickled peaches, preserves and jam and peach ice cream. Lines formed early for baskets of fresh peaches from Titan Farms. "We started with 100 peach baskets," said volunteer George Whittle. "We got them a little later than usual, about 9:30 this morning, and they were gone by 1 p.m. Usually they're here by 8." The festival was sponsored by the Trenton Community Development Association and had corporate sponsorships by Club Car, Titan Farms, Palmetto Propane and Ice Inc., Mayfield Dairy, SCE&G, First Citizens Bank, Comcast, SRP Federal Credit Union, the Town of Trenton and www.edgefielddaily.com. "I've been involved in all 39 Peach Festivals, so I've watched it grow from a small, small festival to what it is today, which is the type of festival where people who came in the early years keep coming back," said Trenton Mayor Helen Summer. "There's something for everyone, and we want to keep it that way, very family-friendly. I think this is one of the most successful festivals we've had; attendance is definitely up. I have to give credit to the festival chairman Melody Boylston and the chairman of the Trenton Community Development Association, Barbara Whitlock. They and their boards worked very hard putting this festival on." Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.
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Comment Title:
You should have done what I did....I told them I was a Democrat and they gave me my food for free....then I came back with my whole family...brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, Mom, Dad, my kids and even some guy on our street we all call Crazy Joe....every one of us ate for free and then slept in that guy's house for a few days.
Posted by: On: 6/21/2009
Comment Title:
Although I enjoyed the festival...I wanted to make a comment about the food vendor toward the far end of the festival. We purchased 2 Italian Sausage sandwiches, 1 gyro, 1 FF, and 1 lemonade. They handed us the food before giving us the total of $35!!! They were charging $8 a sandwich, $6 FF, & $5 for a lemonade, but never had a sign posted for prices. I never in my life saw prices this high. I would hope that Trenton would decide not to let this vendor back next year. Of course, had we known the ridiculous prices, we would have gome to another stand. Those people should be ashamed of themselves and banned from any festivals.
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