Crowds crow over the 5th annual N.C. Poultry Festival
By Sierra Henry
Published in News on September 9, 2018 7:34 AM
Will Myers bounded excitedly over toward a black and gold Trans Am lined up for the N.C. Poultry Festival's third annual Center Street Car show.
Too short to look into the car, the 6-year-old's grandfather, Danny Stanley, scooped him into his arms. Eyes wide, he grinned and took in the gold cloth seats in the car.
"This is actually our first year coming," Stanley said. "Normally I work on Saturdays, but I don't anymore. Our grandson is in town visiting and he loves cars, and we do too. He loves Trans Ams and we came by and saw this one -- there it is buddy."
A day for celebrating community and Goldsboro's roots in the poultry industry, Myers joined his grandparents, along with hundreds of other families, for the fifth annual N.C. Poultry Festival.
Before checking out the local vendors and food stands, Myers and his grandfather had to check out antique cars on display.
"He is just bouncing around from one (car) to the other," Stanley said. "I think it's great that they're doing this down here, I think it's bringing a lot of publicity and a lot of notice to downtown Goldsboro. I'm glad to see it. It's picking up down here, there're a lot of new stores and it's just revitalizing Goldsboro, and I'm glad to see that."
"He wanted to see cars first, and I have to be honest, I did too."
While the weather was hot and humid, hundreds came out to shop from local vendors, eat good food and enjoy a day of fun activities. With a variety of local vendors, food, live music, bouncy houses and activities, the poultry festival attracted people of all ages.
Torette Williams, who recently moved to Goldsboro with her husband, who is in the Air Force, took the opportunity to showcase her Mary Kay business. She said she was happy to have the opportunity to spend time in the community and support local businesses.
"I knew this was going to be a phenomenal event for me to showcase my Mary Kay business and my Dancing with the Stars, and just more importantly, supporting the community and letting people know small businesses are here in Goldsboro as well as the larger businesses," Williams said.
"It's a beautiful thing to see the families out, the kids are out, the food is smelling good, the music is good -- and it's early."
Plenty of barbecue was served during the Pig in the Park, which joined the poultry festival for the second year in a row.
According to Jacqueline Kannan, one of the organizers of Pig in the Park, the event started nine years ago and is one of the major fund raisers for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wayne County. This year, she said 13 teams participated in the barbecue cook off.
"The money that they generate through our sponsors for this event will go toward the kids in our Wayne County Clubs," Kannan said.
Pig in the Park was first held during the Poultry Festival in 2017 after the event's usual spot at Waynesboro Park was flooded during a hurricane.
"So, the city was gracious and said, 'come on down and join us at Beak Week,' which is what it was then," Kannan said. "Everyone liked having the barbecue part of the festival, so we decided to come back this year and be a part of the poultry festival."
Charles Gaylor, Wayne Community College's associate vice president, has participated in Pig in the Park for years.
"We've been cooking at Pig in the Park since before they had to leave the park for the hurricane," Gaylor said. "We've been supporting the Boys and Girls Club ... we just do it (for) the Boys and Girls Club. I don't have a clue what the numbers are, but I can tell you that we had a short line for ribs.
"Every year -- we're not supposed to give them away -- there's always a line of people that come over and they have their bags."