FREDERICKTOWN — The final day of the Fredericktown Tomato Show featured some of the festival’s most popular — and unique — events.
Weather for the last day of the festival couldn’t have been better, with clear skies and balmy temperatures. Afternoon events kicked off at 12:30 with the traditional parade.
“We had 130 registered entries,” said festival board member Carol Ruggles. “There were also a number of unofficial entries at the end of the parade.”
This year’s theme was “Lost in Time.” All entrants received a participation award, and prizes were awarded in the following categories: Best Organizational Entry, Best Commercial Entry Best Classic Car Entry, Most Humorous Entry, Best Costumed Entry, Best Walking Entry, Best Children’s Entry, Best Youth Entry, Best Antique Implement Entry, Best Noncommercial Entry, Best Senior Adult Entry, Best Parade Theme Entry, Best Horse Drawn Entry, Best Antique Car Entry, Best Pony Drawn Entry, Best Mounted Entry, Best Novelty Entry and Best Professional Entry.
There was also a judge’s award for the grand prize.
The Fredericktown Tomato Show has two of what are probably the most unique events to be found at local festivals: The bathtub races and the tomato toss.
“I’ve been off the [Tomato Show] board for a few years now,” said Jeff Harmer who emcees both the bathtub race and the tomato toss. “But I know I’ve been emceeing it for about 15 years. I think it’s been going for about 20 years. When it started, you brought your own tub. I know at least two fire departments competed.”
Because cast iron bathtubs are hard to come by theses days, the Tomato Show provides them for the contestants.
The teams are made up of three people, two pushing and one steering. The driver sits in the tub, which is filled with water and uses a tiller to steer the tub on a downhill, then uphill, course. There were four different categories: Women only, any age; men and women, 25 and older; men and women, under 25; and the minister challenge and an award for the fastest time.
The race that drew the most interest was the minister challenge, with the Fredericktown Presbyterian Church defending its championship from last year.
The winning team consisted of Mike Smith, Gary Gregg and Branden Smith.
“We came to defend our championship and we did it,” said Mike Smith. “It was great.”
The tomato toss is a more recent addition to the list of events.
“The tomato toss is an event that began about four or five years ago,” Harmer said. “Each team has two people, one who tosses the tomato and a catcher who tries to catch the tomatoes in a basket. They have 10 tomatoes and the team that catches the most tomatoes wins.”
The tomato tossing is done with a giant slingshot-type device, with the catcher about 30 yards away. Three teams tied with nine out of 10 catches. The teams were timed as a tie breaker, and the winners were Mark Haip and Dan Hannon.
The biggest event — and the one that means the most to the Fredericktown Tomato Show — is the annual plate auction, which raises funds for the festival and offers community members a chance to not just help support the festival but to also have a unique souvenir of the event. Each year the tomato show board chooses some aspect of the community to feature on the plates; this year’s plates featured the Taylor Street School. Recently torn down, the school has, over the years, served the community as an elementary, junior high and high school. Ten plates were made and auctioned off by John “Red” Shaw, with the help of Larry Moore and Herschel Thomas. All plates sold for at least $1,000, with several going for a high of $1,100.
The first and last plates were purchased by Beheler Excavation for $1,100 and $1,000, respectively.
“This year was a lot better than last year,” said board member Heath Kempton. “The plates didn’t sell for this much last year.”
The plate auction raised $6,500 last year. This year’s total was $10,650.
