Working stiffs of the media like a free lunch as much as anyone.
And so a golden-throated horde of them showed up Wednesday for the Arkansas State Fair news conference and fair-food lollapalooza.
“It took me a while to get the chocolate down.”
Tracy Westmoreland of Jefferson, Texas, on her efforts over the winter to perfect
the chocolate-dipped corn dog. With sprinkles.
There were many familiar faces, many familiar voices and many familiar fair foods. Winner of the best-tasting competition ... comes later. Don't peek.
The fair, off Roosevelt Road in Little Rock, opens at 11 a.m. Friday and runs through Oct. 23.
[PHOTOS: See all the food options at this year's state fair]
Last year's fair set a record for attendance, a little bit over 473,000, said Ralph Eubanks of the public relations firm CJRW. The goal, as always, he said, is to top that record.
"Obviously, weather plays the No. 1 role," Eubanks said. "We don't have a ritual for good weather, but we cross our fingers and hope for sunshine."
The National Weather Service forecasts a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms on Friday, a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms on Friday night, and then sunny for Saturday and Sunday with highs in the mid-80s.
Here are some things worth knowing:
• A big road project continues on Roosevelt Road, and so does a free weekend parking shuttle service. Park for free in designated state government lots west of the Capitol. A shuttle will run to the fairgrounds and back on Friday, 6-11 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m.-11 p.m.
• Concerts are free with gate admissions. Featured artists are of wide variety, from Saliva to After 7. That would be rock to R&B, with country in between, represented by Clint Black and Collin Raye.
• Ducks and geese are back in the livestock exhibits, Sherman Lites said. He's the director of the livestock part of the fair. Those birds didn't show last year because of concerns about avian flu.
• Miniature dairy cattle will make an appearance this year. Yes, they give milk, Lites said. "They look like a Jersey cow, but they're little bitty."
• Admission at the gate is $10 for adults, $5 for kids 6-12 and $5 for people 60 and older. A variety of other ticket options, and more fair information, is at arkansasstatefair.com.
Will Hornburg, the director of sales and promotions, talked up the offer of free parking and admission from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays. The idea is to get people to go out to the fair for something different at lunch.
Something different, maybe, like the fried spaghetti and meatball on a stick from Pat's Kitchen of North Little Rock, represented by Theresa Murtha. About as big as a tennis ball, the dish is, as named, a combination of spaghetti and ground beef, battered and fried and served with Parmesan cheese and marinara sauce.
Want something more traditional? Murtha offered up the bacon-wrapped Jo-Jo's potato, battered and fried, naturally.
"Anything with bacon sells," Murtha said.
A couple of tables down, Tracy Westmoreland of Jefferson, Texas, took that advice seriously with a maple-bacon corn dog.
Westmoreland also had what may be the boldest choice this year: a chocolate-dipped corn dog. With sprinkles. She created this concoction over the winter, when she always experiments in her shop.
"It took me a while to get the chocolate down," she said.
And there they were, all shiny and bright, chocolate-covered corn dogs.
Shelly Hickey of Texarkana was on hand to offer something seriously sweet, Elve's peanut patties, a 60-year tradition in Texarkana.
Only three people know the recipe, and she's one of them. Eat one of Elve's peanut patties, she said, and no other will do.
For $10, a big peanut patty can be had. It's molded in the shape of Arkansas.
Ravenous media members were asked to vote on the fair foods, the results of which were announced at a point where everyone appeared fully fed.
Drum roll please for the winners.
Most creative was the pretzel-crusted brownie from vendor Fried What?
Best tasting -- isn't taste the point of fair food? -- was the roast-beef sundae.
Ray Pennington of Saline County, creator of the roast-beef sundae, has been a vendor at the fair for about 25 years. He's bringing back the sundae after a lapse of four years, he said.
The dish looks like a sundae. Sort of. It's made of mashed potato, beef, gravy, grated cheese, more potato, more gravy and more cheese. Pennington sticks a piece of buttered bread on the side, and tops the marvelous mound with a red Roma tomato.
"It's a huge hit in the Midwest and San Antonio," Pennington said. "They can't get enough of it."
Same on Wednesday. Pretty much everyone scarfed up a roast-beef sundae.
If the weather and the crowds cooperate, Pennington hopes to sell more than 2,000 sundaes over the 10 days of the fair. They cost $8.
Worth, he said, every penny.
A Section on 10/13/2016