|
|
 |
|
Versailles Crushes
the Record!
Versailles crushed the prior record of 26,640 dinners set in 2016 by
selling 27,620 World Famous Barbecue Chicken Dinners this year.
While it took 14 years to break the record set in 2002 it only took a
year to crush that record. The festival was blessed with great
weather and strong support from the Versailles, Darke County, and Miami
Valley communities.
In Versailles the age old question isn’t why did the chicken cross the
road. It’s why do you sell out of chicken. The committee
relies on experience, weather and years of record keeping to plan how
much to cook. If too much is cooked losses are incurred which
impact our ability to support community projects. If we don’t
cook enough we leave hungry visitors. To make things worse the
cooking process itself requires that the decision on how many birds to
cook must be made hours before the crowd arrives.
We have worked hard to increase sales while also not jeopardizing the
support we offer in the community. Another focus of the committee
has been to ensure that we don’t sell out early in the evening.
For the second year the Chairmen achieved those goals by not selling
out until 7:00 Friday, 7:45 Saturday and 4:30 Sunday.
With positive momentum since 2009 the festival has increased sales year
over year from 20,880 dinners to achieve the astonishing number of
27,620 in 2017. We had a few new volunteer chicken lines this
year and a few “old hands” also showed up to pitch in where
needed. Also the Versailles Lion’s Club stepped in to organize a
massive amount of chicken to speed cooking. Lastly, we had to
pull in a sixth cooker on Saturday just to keep up with demand.
The festival was a whirl of activities again this year and we will
continue to publish pictures of event winners and post on social media
as they are received. A very special activity this year was the
Versailles FFA’s tent which was a popular activity for children as they
got hands on experience with young animals as well as farm tasks such
as driving a tractor or milking a cow. Of course one of the best
kept secrets in the Miami Valley is the Poultry Days Ultimate Frisbee
Tournament. Pollos en mis Pantelones of Cleveland battled 64
teams from throughout the United States and Canada to become the
Ultimate Champions for the second year.
Our partners in the festival are astonishing. The Village of
Versailles assisting with grounds set up and along with local emergency
services provided support throughout the weekend. The Versailles
School Board as our host for the weekend and our many partners.
The Serendipity Mothers who ran a successful vendor tent, The
Versailles Music Boosters, Versailles K of C along with many
more. We congratulate the 2017 Miss Chick Abigail White along
with the 2017 Little Miss Poultry Days Annabelle Menke. Lastly we
thank Joan and Larry Roll for serving as our Honorary Parade Marshals.
We are happy to publish the award winners in the Grand Parade organized
by volunteers from the Versailles Fire Department.
Chairman’s Award – Busy Beavers 4-H, Commercial Award – Brilliant
Beginnings, Theme Award – Second National Bank, Junior Civic –
Versailles FFA, Senior Civic – Shelby County Right to Life, Mayor’s
Award – Towne and County Players and Queens Award – The Winery at
Versailles.
What will 2018 bring? Well we hope it brings weather like we have
seen the past few years because we will be working to see how far that
record can be pushed. If you would have a suggestion for a
festival theme or honorary parade marshal, please email us at
chairman@versaillespoultrydays.com or mail us at PO Box 108,
Versailles, Ohio 45380. Likewise, if you would like to become
more involved with the festival, are involved with a community
organization or business that would like to conduct an activity or
simply have an idea for an attraction please contact us.
It’s a long wait for the next festival but there is little rest for the
board has already been making plans for next year as well as planning
our annual blood drive on Monday, September 18th at the Versailles K of
C. We want to thank our partners, community, and volunteers along
with everyone who attended the festival and invite you to visit
Versailles again on June 8, 9, 10th, 2018 for the 67th annual
Versailles Poultry Days. For more information, go to
www.versaillespoultrydays.com.
|
|
|
|
