Gorgeous weather meant great crowds for this year’s Smoky Hill Museum Street Fair on September 28. Over 8,300 people attended this day to celebrate the Old West. Almost 2,300 people watched the parade and it is estimated that over half of the crowd made their way immediately over to the 200 block of West Iron Avenue to take in the events.
Attendees were able to talk with Buffalo Soldiers, learn about the Smoky Hill Trail while getting in an authentic Old West stagecoach, and watch a ferrier make horseshoes. Make-n-take crafts, Old West carnival activities, rope making and live entertainment were some of the other activities of the Street Fair. Overall, 69 volunteers put in over 205 volunteer hours to help make the Street Fair possible.
Of course, two of the most anticipated events were the Chili Cook-off and the Serious Eaters Contests. Nine teams vied for two awards in the Chili Cook-off. Team #1, Aliento De Vida (Breath of Life,) won the People’s Choice Award and Team #2, Just Chilin’, won the Judges Choice Award. Over 545 votes were cast for the People's Choice award. The judges were from Bravo Sliders N Bites, The Cozy Inn and Martinelli's Little Italy.
The Serious Eaters Competition was made up of three contests and garnered quite a crowd. The first contest was eating cheesesteak sliders from Bravo Sliders N Bites. Patrick Drueke was the winner, eating 11 sliders in ten minutes. The second competition featured sliders from The Cozy Inn. Thomas Dolan was able to pack away 19 sliders in ten minutes. The final contest was the most amazing. Adam “the Atomic Attacker” Keller finished one pound of spaghetti in marinara sauce in just three minutes absolutely demolishing the completion.
Thanks to sponsorships from many dedicated Salina residents and businesses, there is no cost to attend this day of celebration. The museum especially wishes to thank the following generous individuals, businesses and organizations for their sponsorship: City of Salina; Friends of the Museum; HDR Engineering, Inc., Roy & Donice Applequist/GSCF-Applequist Family Fund Renaissance Café, Salina Ortho, Stryten Energy, Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc., Ann Zimmerman & Dexter Eggers, Salina Regional Health Foundation, Christ Cathedral, Dick and Joyce Brown, Dean & Debra Lewis, Equity Bank (formerly American State Bank & Trust Company), Marshall Motor Company, Nex-Tech LLC., Salina Area Technical College, Salina Downtown, Inc., KSAL, Cox, KSN and Eagle Communications.