THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 6, 1995 TAG: 9510060491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
The rain the peanut farmers prayed for this summer - and didn't get - soaked the new Peanut Fest site this week, threatening to turn the city's biggest party of the year into a huge mud fest.
But strong winds on Thursday helped dry out the festival site at the municipal airport, and Peanut Fest officials kept a watchful eye on reports of a tornado nearby as they scrambled to open the four-day event.
Some entertainment stages had to be relocated after more than 2 inches of rain fell Wednesday, saturating the not-yet-packed earth into a muddy mess.
``We're frantically moving things as we can to address the problems,'' said Herman Bunch, one of the festival's seven organizers.
The volunteers promised that the show would go on despite the weather.
``It's great,'' Bunch said by cellular phone from the site Thursday afternoon. ``We're open for business.''
Most of Thursday's festival goers had advance tickets to the Suffolk Ruritan Club's annual Shrimp Feast.
``It looks like a real nice crowd,'' Bunch said. ``Nobody's staying home because of the weather.''
Normally there's just one person in charge, but this was a special year. Moving the site from one part of the the airport property to another required tremendous planning and extra work, so seven past chairmen agreed to be a team.
The new site is more than double the size of the old one, and volunteers have worked steadily for weeks to get ready.
The move was necessary after the city decided to revamp an old drag strip, where the previous festivals had been held, for use as a major runway.
The tired organizers, who had been moving dirt for weeks, were optimistic because the weekend weather forecast held promises of fairer skies.
The celebration, which runs through Sunday, offers wholesome fun for all ages. There are carnival rides and games for children, a rodeo, demolition derby and monster truck rides. Strolling magicians and jugglers will entertain the crowds, and vendors will offer all types of food.
Plenty of peanuts and peanut products will be available for sampling.
Arts and crafts will be displayed along with numerous other exhibits - most of them under tents.
Today's activities include free rides for preschool children from 10 a.m to noon, special events for senior citizens from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. and a fireworks display at 9 p.m.
The festivities continue Saturday and Sunday with a variety of nearly nonstop music.
Admission to the site is free, but parking costs $5 a car. Three-day parking passes are being sold at area Sentry Marts. ILLUSTRATION: Color map
Color drawing of Mr. Peanut
by CNB