Fried pies played a big part in the success of Bloomberg's 45th annual Cullen Baker Fair recently. This year's fair had a record 165 venders to serve 1,500 people who walked along East Main Street to see the table offerings.
How well the fried pies sold is one gauge of the fair's success..
"We had 1,488 pies and our goal was to sell them all. We did, at $2 each," said Melissa Harrington, festival lead organizer.
Perhaps it was the way the pies were prepared because they were fried on the spot by members of the town council and volunteer fire department-and sold while still hot.
People would get in a line, go through and get a pie, and then get right back in line for another one, Harrington said.
"The pies were that good," she said.
Harrington said Bloomburg's festival takes a lot of work to bring people together and create a market for those fried pies.
"We work five months to put the fair together," she said.
The fair raises money for the volunteer fire department, which is led by chief Dakota Huddleston and meets Monday nights at 6:30. Other members include assistant chief Blake Crumpler, Adam Sheffield, Dallas Hale, Kenneth Patterson, Larry Patterson, Cody Shields, Bret Crumpler and Melissa Harrington.