By: Jennifer Britt
The Parsons Advocate
The Parsons Volunteer Fire Department Homecoming Fair week started out on Tuesday with a family fun filled night at the Parsons Fire Department open house. Over 200 children and families enjoyed hotdogs supplied by Kingsford Manufacturing, bounce houses, fire safety house, face painting, cotton candy from the PVFD ladies auxiliary, popcorn by Tucker County 4H, and of course everyone got to see all the fire trucks and station.
Wednesday night the streets of downtown Parsons were full to the brim. Wrist band night brought many people young and old out to enjoy the carnival Midway rides provided by Gambill Amusements, Kiwanis famous corndogs, carnival street food and games.
Thursday night was a repeat of fun with the addition of open mic night karaoke contest with cash prizes sponsored by the City of Parsons. PVFD sponsored the tent bingo in the streets. There were raffles for guns and quilts as well.
Six contestants entered the karaoke competition that was hosted by Mistee Griffith and DJ’d by Danny Barkley. After round one of the contestants Brandi Kopec, Danny Barkley, Michael Fulton, and Noah “Mucker” Rhoades moved on to the second round. The final three contestants were Kopec, Fulton and Barkley. Kopec placed first, Fulton placed second and Barkley placed third. Each contestant won a cash prize and were judged by Dave Stevens owner of The Music Center: A Plus Guitars music store in Parsons, Sandra Mason of the Tucker County Family Resource Network, and Diana Deluca from Pro On-Trac.
Friday night continued with midway rides, carnival foods, and entertainment was performed by Brandon Laxton & Tupelo Drive on the main stage and sponsored by the City of Parsons.
Saturday may have a been a washout with the parade and all fair events being canceled but one competition stuck it out through the rain. The Kingsford Pitmaster Competition was held in the Stevens’ Realty parking lot. Contestants competed in three different divisions. The three divisions 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 Kingsford Manufacturing Company.
Marcus Mullenax and Dillon Knots placed first for the ribs division. Greg Knots and Michael Eye placed first for the chicken division. Jack Plum and Colin Lantz won the one bite challenge and were crowned Grand Champions.
This year’s fair was smaller than usual but with the COVID-19 pandemic closing things down for the past two years it is taking time to rebuild things back to what they were.