Melon games
By Staff
Watermelon Festival draws large crowds
Melissa Cason
The past two days people flocked to Russellville to see the entertainment, taste the watermelon and shop the vendors as the Franklin County Watermelon Festival drew a record breaking crowd both Friday and Saturday.
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cheryl Bradford said the attendance for the festival was awesome, and everything went smoothly this year.
"This is awesome," Bradford said. "I'm tired but it's a good kind of tired. I'm proud of everyone that helped. A lot of people did this."
While vendors lined the streets to offer guests food, drinks and goods of all sorts, the festival's contests also drew a big crowd.
Clifton Knight of Morgan County took home the prize for biggest watermelon, weighing in at 199 pounds.
Knight said he used a lot of fertilizer to grow the big melon.
"I used a lot of Miracle Grow," Knight said. "I am taking this melon back to Morgan County to put on display at our co-op."
Second place winners for the biggest melon were Colby Hammonds, and Roger Grissom. Josh Vigllietta took home the third place prize.
The best-tasting winners were Micah Dalrymple, first place; Greg Dalrymple, second place; and Linda Graham, third place.
Graham also won the first and third place prize for most unusual melon, and Roy Grissom won the second place prize for most unusual.
Another popular event was the best-decorated event. Malera Dalyrmple won first place prize with her Hannah Montana watermelon while Micah Dalyrmple took home the second place prize. Hamilton Grant won the third place prize for this sea grab watermelon.
The seed-spitting contest was also a big hit with the kids. Winners were Rueben Ramirez, first place; Thomas Valdez, second place, and Matt Lynch, third place.
The festival brought in huge crowd, bringing downtown Russellville back to life for a few days and out-of-town visitors and some natives returning home.
Kelley McCullough Corbson of Trussville returns home for the festival every year and was surprised by this year's crowd.
"This is huge, one of the biggest crowds ever," she said. "This is great for Russellville."
