Florida Strawberry Festival has chilly but tasty start

The annual celebration of the red fruit that made Plant City famous is under way.

Hundreds of people were waiting in lines this morning when the gates opened at 10 for the Florida Strawberry Festival's 75th anniversary.

Temperatures were barely in the 50s but patrons bundled up against the morning cold.

"It's a little bit cold but it's warming up," said David Yonkers, who was visiting the festival for the first time with his wife Judy and friends Roger and Muriel Hale.

Sherocka Whitehead dressed for the chill but the Tampa native conceded, "I'm used to being nice and warm not having a sweater on in March."

The crowds were steady as the festival began its 11-day run. The celebration includes livestock shows, some of the biggest names in country music, and of course, strawberry shortcake.

"It's a beautiful day. It is a great event and it looks like everyone is having a good time," said Shelby Bender, president of the East Hillsborough Historical Society, which operates a shortcake booth.

Her morning customers included Olive Schoonmaker, who was visiting the festival for the first time. She said the shortcake was "absolutely fantastic."

"It's been an unusual winter but spring has sprung. It is all good," the Sun City Center resident said.

Nelson Kellems, his wife Mona and his brother and sister-in-law Bill and Dorothy Kellems, who live in Waynesville, Ill., were also early shortcake customers.

Dorothy Kellems said the shortcake was delicious and Mona Kellems said she "couldn't get enough" of the tasty treat.

Members of the Turkey Creek Assembly of God, Transforming Life Ministries, hope their shortcake booth sales surpass last year.

"We are looking to sell more than 45,000 shortcakes this year," said Bill Bowers, a church member and daytime supervisor at the booth. "We did 38,000 last year. With good weather we plan to top that number."

Roger Hale, a Michigan resident who winters in Avon Park, said his personal agenda for the day included country singer Roy Clark's 3:30 p.m. performance. David Yonkers, who also lives in Michigan and winters in Avon Park, said he planned to take in shows featuring racing pigs, lumberjacks and Galaxy Girl, who performs acrobatics more than 120 feet in the air. "That should do it for today," he said.

On the midway, Bruce Bell of Springhill was enjoying thrill rides.

"The Nemesis 360 is a great ride," said Bell, who belongs to a club of roller coaster enthusiasts. "This is a step up from the Inversion 360 and other rides of its type. The view at the top of the ride is amazing. It's like seeing the world upside down, but it's a super ride. I'll be back."

Dianne Benoit, who owns the Strawberry Barn concession, said coffee and hot chocolate were big sellers, partly due to the cold and partly due to the senior citizen discount she was offering. Today is Senior Day at the festival and patrons 60 and older get $2 discount on $10 gate admission.

She operates two booths at the festival selling such sweets as strawberry crepes, strawberry smoothies and strawberry cake. She said she was looking for plenty of customers at the festival after disappointing sales at the cold weather-plagued Florida State Fair.

"I'll never make up what I lost in Tampa at the State Fair but we are looking for better weather and lot more business at the strawberry festival," she said.
Customers seem to be more selective this year, she said.

"Money is tight. People are not trying everything (on the menu) like they have in the past and choose what they eat very carefully," she said.

Another vendor, Brian Jack of Butcher Boys concessions, said he took a beating at the State Fair as well.

"Maybe some of the people who couldn't make it to the State Fair because of the terrible weather will come out here. We're only 20 miles down the road," he said.

He's counting on a rebound at the strawberry festival selling his steak and chicken sandwiches and gyros.

"This is perfect eating weather right now. When you're in the 60s, low 60s people can come out and put a sweatshirt on, and you'll be okay," he said.

Ron Gainey, vice president of the strawberry festival association, hopes for 650,000 visitors this year, although he'd be happy with 450,000. He said the festival's success is largely tied to the weather.

"Our hopes are that we have sunny weather and sunny warm weather's better, but we're going to take it like it is because anything beats rain," Gainey said.

Attendance plummets in cold, rainy weather, he said.

"You can have the greatest acts in town, but if you don't have good weather people are not going to come to the fair, and it's critical here that we have good weather, especially on the weekends. Saturdays and Sundays are our biggest days," he said. "If we're going to have bad weather we'd prefer it to be in the middle of the week, but we don't have any control except God and Mother Nature takes care of all of it."

Advance admission and headline entertainment ticket sales have been good, so Gainey is optimistic for a successful festival run.

Festival General Manager Paul Davis said he was encouraged on opening day.

"I've talked to 300 people and they're smiling," he said.

"It doesn't get any better than that."

The festival's Web address is www.flstrawberryfestival.com. For information, call the ticket office at (813) 754-1996.

For directions, a midway and concert schedule and more, go to TBO.com, Keyword: "Strawberry 2010."