Fremont celebrates daffodils, and spring
By John Joyce
Published in News on March 29, 2015 1:50 AM
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Miss Daffodil Kirstin Limbaugh, 18, and Little Miss Daffodil Dakota Ethridge, 9, sing and dance along with Embers lead vocalist Craig Woolard during the band's performance at the Daffodil Festival in Fremont on Saturday. The band was the featured entertainment at the event.
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brothers John Michael Southerland, left, 5, and Tanner Southerland, 4, steer their race cars, just one of many games and rides offered at the festival.
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Meredith Taylor and her daughter, Cheyenne, dance the Cha Cha Slide. Mrs. Taylor grew up in Fremont and said she comes back every year with her daughter so that they don't miss the Daffodil Festival.
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Logan Person, left, 13, Seth Russell, 11, and Thomas Russell enjoy hamburgers outside of Capitol Cafe with their dog, Dexter, during the Daffodil Festival on Saturday.
FREMONT -- The 2015 Fremont Daffodil Festival kicked off a few minutes late Saturday due to the cold, wind and rain, but the crowd remained undeterred.
Mayor Darin Flowers opened the festival shortly after 10 a.m. as the skies began to clear and the temperature inched north of 40 degrees.
Some vendors arrived as early as 6 a.m. to set up.
David Swanson said it was still raining when he showed up at 7 a.m. to pitch camp and to start frying his peanuts.
"It was rainy and windy," he said. Swanson travels around the state attending festival after festival and serving up his peanuts "fried in 100 percent peanut oil."
Nearby, the Pikeville Lions Club set up its booth, selling brooms made by the blind and raffling off a propane-powered barbecue grill, tank not included, of course.
"You provide the gas and the meat, heck I'll even come help you do the cooking," club member Walter Ham said.
Fellow Lions Danny Newcomb and Mike Hooks said all the proceeds from the fundraisers would go back into the Lions Club and help benefit the blind, the hearing impaired, the community and a Charles B. Aycock High School scholarship program.
Dozens of food vendors, community programs and service providers manned their respective booths, enjoying each other's company and listening to The Embers, Miss Daffodil Kirstin Limbaugh and Little Miss Daffodil Dakota Ethridge perform.
Flowers told the crowd he hoped they all brought full wallets and empty stomachs to the festival.
After the festivities commenced, Flowers spoke about the history of the daffodil in Fremont and about the festival he has presided over for the last three years.
"Well, it goes back 30 years. It seemed everyone in town was planting daffodils," he said.
He said the town, wishing to draw tourists and new residents to Fremont, decided a hook was needed that could be used to bring folks in. The town settled on the daffodil and created a festival around the flower.
"When they are in season and you are riding through town, you can bet most people will be planting daffodils," Flowers said.
After kicking things off officially for the town, Flowers and family members of Leon and Ebbie Mooring and Devone and Geraldine Jones headed over to a memorial plaque bearing the names of the four community members.
The ceremony is part of a tradition -- to honor those who have passed who have made a difference in their community. New names are added each year.
The rest of the day was filled with music and food and enjoying the day with neighbors. People traveled in from Eureka and Pikeville, Nahunta and Goldsboro to be there.
The festival carried on until closing at 5 p.m.