THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180441
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
The Smithfield Ham and Gourmet Food Festival, a tasty annual event since 1987, has been spoiled by high costs and little local participation.
Joni Griffin, president of the sponsor, Isle of Wight Civic Club Council, said the decision to end the event was by mutual agreement of the council and Joseph W. Luter III, chairman of the board of Smithfield Foods Inc.
Aberdeen Farm, Luter's 1,200-acre farm and rural retreat overlooking the Pagan and James rivers, has hosted each of the upscale spring festivals. Besides offering pork products of every sort and other gourmet foods, the festivals attracted such celebrities as Marie Osmond, Pat Boone and the late Conway Twitty.
The festival aimed to promote rural Isle of Wight County, Virginia pork and food products, and world-famous Smithfield ham, which is processed and cured only in Smithfield.
But Griffin said the festival cost too much and got too little local support. Tickets last year were $16, up from $12 in 1987.
``We had a lot of people coming in from outside the area,'' Griffin said, ``but, for some reason, we never really had the community behind us.''
She said the festival never lost money, was able to meet its commitments from last year, and owns cooking and serving equipment that will be sold. But sponsorship declined, Griffin said, and food and entertainment costs increased.
Final proceeds from the festivals will be donated to a local charitable organization, Griffin said.
Luter will plant crops on his farm this spring, said Evelyn Stanley. She is Luter's personal secretary, a member of the civic club's steering committee and a longtime festival supporter.
The festival was ``a lot of work, and nobody was making a lot of money,'' Stanley said.
Another organization could take over the festival, Stanley said, but Aberdeen Farm would not be available. by CNB