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Versailles
Celebrates an Eggstravaganza
Versailles will celebrate the 66th annual festival June 9th-11th with a
theme of a “Poultry Days Eggstravaganza” which recognizes the
celebration and enjoyment everyone has visiting the festival. The
board led by Chairmen Kevin Kissinger has been working for a year to
deliver another quality festival.
Last year Versailles finally crushed the record of 26,101 dinners set
in 2002 by selling 26,640 of their World Famous Barbecue Chicken
Dinners. Throughout the years many visitors ask why more aren’t
cooked if we sell out. The committee relies on experience,
weather and record keeping to plan how much to cook but in the end it’s
a gamble. If too much chicken is cooked it impacts our ability to
support community projects. If we don’t cook enough we leave
hungry visitors. To add to the difficulty, the cooking process
requires that the decision on how much to cook must be made hours
before the crowd arrives. Last year the chairmen nailed it and
didn’t sell out until 7:00 Friday, 7:30 Saturday and 4:30 Sunday.
While it took 14 years to break the prior record set in 2002 the board
has been busy trying improve the process and to continue the year over
year sales increases. There is pride in serving so much chicken
but it’s equally important to maintain quality and service. In
2016 the chicken line averaged 1,600 dinners sold per hour and at peak
capacity we sold more than 2,500 dinners per hour. To put that in
perspective that is 41 dinners per minute!
For 2017 the board will have enough supplies on the grounds to sell
27,500 dinners. Each dinner comes with ½ a chicken,
Mikesells chips, applesauce, the traditional “Chilly Willy” orange
drink and a dinner roll for $8.00. Chicken Sales begin at 3:30
Friday, 11:30 Saturday and 11:00 Sunday. While the Board is
prepared to sell 27,500 dinners come early to satisfy your chicken
craving because we plan to sell out.
A quick peek at the festival schedule will allow you to plan your
chicken celebration. Most events are still accepting
registrations and many accept entries up to the day of the event.
For instance, the 5K under the leadership Greenville based YOLO will
accept reservations up to the race Saturday, June 10th. Details
for entering the Photo, Art, Egg, Cake and Flower contests are
available at www.versaillespoultrydays.com Entries for the
Antique Car Display and Parade to be held on Sunday begin at 9am.
Entries for the FREE Kiddie Tractor Pull and the winner take all Corn
hole tournament are also accepted on Sunday.
Offering two of the largest parades in the area, the Grand Parade will
be held at 11:00am on Saturday while the Antique Car parade will be
held at 2:30 on Sunday. By popular demand the antique car display
will return to South Center street allowing patrons to browse the
vehicles from the grounds. Larry and Joan (Bulcher) Roll have
been selected as Honorary Parade Marshals. The festival will also
offer an Antique Tractor display.
The first festival in the area to shut down a highway to put up a
Social Tent. The grounds will be rockin with nine live acts
beginning at 3:00pm Friday, 1:00pm, Saturday and 1:00pm Sunday.
including Whiskey Bizness, Saw Creek and Empty Tank. Seating has
been increased and we will offer over 30 beverages from MillerCoors,
Anheuser-Busch, and The Winery at Versailles. New for this year
the Winery will offer a limited run of 50 cases of “Rooster Red” only
to be sold the weekend of the festival. If you ever wondered
where all the talent in the Social Tent comes from check out the Worch
Library Talent Show to be held Sunday at 3:30.
The Serendipity Mothers and Darke County Tourism will offer a Green
Screen free of charge to festival goers to take their picture in front
of a fun chicken back ground. While you are in the vendor area
check out the merchandise. The “Moms” have worked with vendors to
establish reduced prices, sales and drawings especially for the
festival.
Returning this year is the extremely popular Agriculture Awareness and
Promotion Tent operated by Versailles FFA, FFA Alumni, & Darke
County Farm Bureau. Activities inside the tent will include:
hands-on crafts related to agriculture, cow milking, petting zoo,
tractor simulator, egg hatching, an obstacle course and free
promotional materials.
Additional displays will include Bear Hollow Wood Carvers and Rage and
Rocko the Dalmatian Duo. NEW for this year will be displays from
the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Auglaize County 4-H, and Go
Crown will be operating a video wall with pictures and videos from the
Poultry Days archives. Soak up more history and air conditioning
at the Versailles Area Historical Society which will be offering
extended hours and new displays.
If you think Poultry Days only occurs on the grounds you will be
missing out. Visit Heritage Park, to watch 65 teams from
throughout the United States and Canada compete in the Ultimate Frisbee
Tournament. Visitors may see their hardboiled egg eating contest
for charity. Versailles Loves its Ultimate Players.
Be a Chick! In the rest of the world a chick is a cute but
delicate young bird. In Versailles, a chick is a confident,
dynamic young woman. A group of young ladies will compete for the
title of Little Miss Poultry Days on Friday at 6:30pm while a group of
slightly older ladies will compete to be the 2017 Miss Chick on
Saturday at 2pm.
Big O’s Amusements returns to the festival with carnival games and
rides continuing at reduced prices. Ride all day for $20 or only
$15 if you buy presale. K of C Bingo, pony rides and a petting
zoo. In addition to chicken there will be your favorite festival
foods including those from the Versailles Music Boosters.
2017 Festival Chairman Kissinger has been on the Poultry Days Board of
Directors for 8 years. Kevin works at Covington Savings &
Loan in Covington and resides in Versailles with his wife Mindy, their
son Owen and two step daughters Mallory and Danica. He also
serves on the Northern Counties Advisory Council of Catholic Social
Services of the Miami Valley and the Covington Noon Optimist Club.
While our chicken is World Famous, festival goers will be traveling
from nearby towns, nearby states and a few countries for more than
chicken, a parade and a Social Tent. Poultry Days is a part of
small town Americana that can’t be duplicated. Friends and
families gathering to enjoy a summer weekend. A chance for a
child to watch a parade, ride a pony and have ice cream.
Poultry Days is both a way for Versailles to gather as a community but
also to welcome visitors. The Poultry Days Board and the Village
of Versailles invite you to join us.
Poultry Days is a volunteer based non-profit organization in
Versailles, Ohio which conducts one of Ohio’s oldest annual festivals
celebrating the area’s history in the Poultry industry since
1952. The festival is held at 459 S. Center St., Versailles, Ohio
the second full weekend in June. To plan your weekend, see the
full festival schedule and event registration at
www.versaillespoultrydays.com.
Download or view the schedule of events here
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