By: Jennifer Britt
Parsons’ lawyer
Parsons Volunteer Fire Department’s Homecoming Fair week kicked off Tuesday with a night full of family fun at the Parsons Fire Department’s open house. Over 200 children and families enjoyed hotdogs supplied by Kingsford Manufacturing, fire houses, fire safety houses, face painting, cotton candy from PVFD for the ladies auxiliary, popcorn from Tucker County 4H, and of course everyone could see it all fire trucks and the station.
The streets of downtown Parsons were packed to the brim Wednesday night. Hand band night brought out many people young and old to enjoy the Midway carnival rides provided by Gambill Amusements, the famous Kiwanis corndogs, street food and carnival games.
Thursday night was a repeat of the fun with the addition of the nightly open mic karaoke contest with cash prizes sponsored by the City of Parsons. PVFD sponsored street tent bingo. There was also a raffle for guns and quilts.
Six contestants took part in the karaoke competition which was hosted by Mistee Griffith and DJ’d by Danny Barkley. After the first round, contestants Brandi Kopec, Danny Barkley, Michael Fulton and Noah “Mucker” Rhoades advanced to the second round. The final three contestants were Kopec, Fulton and Barkley. Kopec was ranked first, Fulton was ranked second and Barkley was ranked third. Each contestant won a cash prize and was judged by Dave Stevens, owner of The Music Center: A Plus Guitars in Parsons, Sandra Mason of the Tucker County Family Resource Network and Diana Deluca of Pro On-Trac.
Friday night continued with midway rides, carnival food and entertainment was performed by Brandon Laxton & Tupelo Drive on the main stage and sponsored by the City of Parsons.
Saturday may have been a washout with the parade and all fair events being canceled, but one contest made it through the rain. The Kingsford Pitmaster Competition was held in the parking lot of Stevens’ Realty. Contestants competed in three different divisions. The three sharings were pork ribs, chicken and a one-bite challenge. All participants had to provide their own equipment, grill and sauce. All meat and charcoal were provided courtesy of the Kingsford Manufacturing Company.
Marcus Mullenax and Dillon Knots placed first for the rib split. Greg Knots and Michael Eye placed first for the chicken division. Jack Plum and Colin Lantz won the challenge in one bite and were crowned grand champions.
This year’s fair was smaller than usual, but with the COVID-19 pandemic shutting things down for the past two years, it’s taking time to get things back to where they were.
