VERSAILLES – Barely a day after the Poultry Days festival there was little sign one had occurred.
The only clues were a stray ride wristband, an unused social tent ticket laying in the street and that last carnival ride parked in the back. While the visible signs are few the memories are countless: a weekend of laughter, time with family and many new friendships.
Despite sporadic showers over the weekend the 67th annual Versailles Poultry Days moved forward hitting new records.
The afternoon of June 9 an ultimate frisbee player, his fiancé and friends stood in the rain focused on getting one of the barbecue chicken dinners. Little did that competitor from Columbus know that the dinner he would purchase would be the 1 millionth in Poultry Days history.
Ryan Stoneberger, who was at the festival for a second year competing in the Ultimate tournament, purchased the dinner and received gifts including a trip to Las Vegas and MikeSells snacks for a year.
Stoneberger’s dinner was one of many that propelled chicken sales to a new peak of 28,420 dinners sold, breaking the previous record of 27,620. At the end of the weekend Versailles can boast that is has served 1,012,685 barbecue chicken dinners since 1952.
Highlights of the festival include 70 Ultimate teams from more then 20 states and Canada of which the team Party Fowl from Ann Arbor, Michigan, took home the coveted trophy. These Poultry Days pilgrims also raised over $11,000 to be donated to the Lymphoma Society. This money was raised through a hard-boiled egging contest in which Jeff Martin, with team Cephalogallus from Goshen, Indiana, ate 24 eggs to become the champion egg eater. The Cleveland-based Pollos En Mis Pantelones was the top team fundraiser.
Faith Wilker of Versailles was crowned the 2018 Miss Chick and along with her court of Jamie Hart and Morgan Heitkamp will appear at area festivals over the next year. Elle Bey of Tipp City also was crowned 2018 Little Miss Poultry Days along with her court Miranda Miller and Lani DeMange.
The Social Tent was packed over the weekend and the Darke County community gave the bands a solid welcome. The far traveling Tricky Dick & The Cover-Ups were among the bands eager to return next year. The numerous contest and event winners will continue to be recognized on the Poultry Days Facebook page over coming weeks.
The board thanked the community, volunteers and sponsors for their contribution to another successful festival. This success allows Poultry Days to support community projects throughout the year. Suggestions for a festival theme or honorary parade marshal can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to PO Box 108, Versailles, Ohio 45380. Those who would like to become more involved with the festival or are involved with a community organization or business that would like to conduct an activity should contact the Poultry Days committee.
The festival is always held the second full weekend in June and will be held June 14, 15 and 16 in 2019. Themes, bands and attractions are already being discussed as the board organizes for the 68th annual Versailles Poultry Days.
