Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Festival Is This Weekend

Zero hour has arrived for the 14th Annual Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce Chicken and Egg Festival.

All events kick off Friday, June 1, at the Prescott City Park, with something there for everyone.

Mary Godwin, Chamber executive director, said there will be a small carnival at the festival this year, with six rides, mostly for children, and eight game booths. The carnival will be inside the park grounds.

However, the fun kicks off with food, as the chicken feeder troughs open with the Rotary chicken-in-the-rough dinner at 5 p.m. at the pavilion. This year, though, the club will be charging $1 an ear for its roasted corn, instead of including it with the dinner.

Once everyone has been fed, they need to head over to the stage for some real down-home entertainment, showcasing local talent.

First up will be Brandi Karlovec and Morgan Daniel, followed by Rachel Hale.

The First United Methodist Church will put on a puppet show at 5:30, with Alene Bock after them.

Jeff and Tracy Carlton take center stage at 6 o'clock, with the Mark Keith Band next.

Brittany Fugitt, a 16-year-old from Murfreesboro, an up and coming country singer, will perform at 6:45 p.m. and shouldn't be missed.

She will be followed by Christina Norris and the Boughton Frogs and Friends group. Folks, this one is worth seeing just for the name alone.

Russell Carlton is up at 7:15, with Eric Shipp to perform at 7:30 p.m. Alene Bock returns for a second show at 7:45.

Alejandra Ramos is the 8 o'clock star, with the Central Baptist Men's Trio after her. Aaron Inscore is up at 8:30, with the show closing down with a second performance by Karlovec.

All entertainers have volunteers to perform at the festival.

Godwin said something new this year will be the giving away of door prizes during the show.

Special guests will be the Nevada County queens, along with the Miss Prescott Public School queens.

Saturday starts early with the Kiwanis Club's ole time country breakfast, just the way granny used to make. The breakfast will be from 7:30-9 a.m. at the pavilion.

Another food event, but not one where the public gets to eat, is the chicken or egg cooking contest.

People, this is a chance to show off culinary skills and possibly take home $50 or $25 in cash as one of the top two winners in each division.

The best part of this contest, is one person can enter both. All an entrant has to do is follow a few simple rules.

First, the recipe must be neatly written or typed on a piece of paper. Then, the dish should be prepared and taken to the First Baptist Church education building for judging.

This event will be held June 1 at 3:30 p.m.

The chicken recipe must weigh at least a pound, or have servings of no less than three ounces each. For the egg part, at least three eggs must be used, with eggs the key ingredient.

Otherwise, the gloves come off and all's fair.

Godwin said out-of-town judges will select the winners, with the first place finisher in each group getting $50 and the second place person taking home $25.

The winner will be announced at 7 p.m. on the festival stage during the entertainment. Those interested can register at the Chamber, or by calling 887-2101.

With everybody fully fed, it's time to head to other events. Saturday's first contest will be the annual 5-k race through the streets of Prescott. It starts at 8 a.m.

At 9 o'clock, the kids chicken chase will take place.

Athletic contests will be going on all day and will include the Calvin Brown-Tyson Memorial 3-on-3 Coop Hope, the Serving Something Eggstra Tennis tourney, Cock of the Walk Weight Lifting contest, Fowl Ball Men's Softball tourney, and Chicks with Sticks Women's Softball contest.

Along with this will be the chicken market, a series of booths offering arts, crafts, commercial exhibits and novelty items.

One of the favorite events of the festival, for the younger set, is the Chickie Pen, where children can participate in a coloring contest, chick pick up event, ping-pong toss, ring toss, egg dig, coke toss, string a necklace and look for an egg in a haystack.Something everyone enjoys is the golden egg hunt. Clues will be given out at 10 a.m. at the stage, with $100 in cash to the person who finds this treasure.

A new event this year is the jump rope contest, scheduled for 10:45 a.m. at the stage.

For the second year, the remote control vehicle contest will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, in the parking lot behind the revenue department.

Godwin said there will be three divisions, based on entries, with trophies going to the winners.

Those wanting to enter the remote control contest must register at 9:30 a.m.

Pageantry will be in full feather as the Little Mister Rooster and Little Miss Hen pageants will be held at 2 p.m. on the festival stage.

All in all, there will be something for everyone at the festival.