Photos courtesy of Lauren Tate, President of Eastmont Community Foundation
Lori Graham
Contributing Writer
A tomato talent show, tomato eating contest, TomatOlympics, and of course, fried green tomatoes were just some of the highlights of the Eastmont Tomato Festival, held Aug. 19 at the Meadowbrook Center in Shawsville.
Celebrating their 16th anniversary this year with a record number of attendees, Eastmont Community Foundation along with Red Sun Farms and the Meadowbrook Library sponsored and supported the event. Along with the sponsors, the ACCE students and The Hokie Way athletes from Virginia Tech University also volunteered their time and energy in making the event spectacular.
Ellen Ryan, Treasurer of Eastmont Community Foundation, shared how the event had developed over the years.
“It just kind of grew out of the farmer’s market and they ran it for a little while,” Ryan said.
Then, Eastmont Community Foundation took over the organization of the tomato festival. With tomatoes being center stage at the event, freshness was important too.
Volunteers from the organization could be found picking green tomatoes, fresh from the vine, as volunteers stood ready at stations to serve up hot fried green tomatoes. Branch Manager of Meadowbrook Library Cindy Minnick has served up the delicious fried treats every year as one of the volunteers.
The tomato tasting was open to attendees as well and showcased many varieties of tomatoes, 27 in fact. Participants could vote for their favorite after tasting each one.
“My hope is that we’ll grow some that are the favorite and use them next year,” Ryan said.
Festival goers could purchase tickets for food that included options for homemade pizza, fried green tomatoes, tomato sandwiches, and hot dogs, as well as drinks.
The pizza maker that had previously baked for the event was not available this year, so Ellen Ryan’s son Adam Ryan stepped up. Adam Ryan had just moved back from New Orleans and provided a tasty homemade pizza with a variety of toppings, including of course, delicious fresh tomatoes. Volunteers worked steadily in the kitchen, at the stations, and even outside at the grill to keep the food moving for participants.
The Meadowbrook Community Center, that once was a retirement home, holds a large kitchen equipped with lots of space for a large event. However, some equipment is showing its age.
“We are babying our Hobart dishwasher,” Ryan said. “We will quit when the dishwasher quits.”
Families joined together also in making the event special for everyone. Ellen Ryan’s other son, Givens Ryan, stayed busy at the outdoor grill to be sure everyone had a chance to savor the fresh fried green tomatoes at the event.
A local celebrity that appears every year to offer his volunteer services is the “Boogie Woogie Man,” Jimmy Valiant, a World Wrestling Federation wrestler who began his career in the 1960s. Valiant still runs a wrestling camp in Shawsville and is a supporter and volunteer for the Eastmont Tomato Festival.
“Every year he comes, and he is so sweet,” Ryan said. “We all have our little niche’. Robert Pilkington has run the Olympics for the kids for years. He’s so awesome to do that.”
Pilkington was also the center of attention as children gathered around him for a chance to throw tomatoes at the brave soul wearing a red target on his bright yellow T-shirt. Pilkington, standing inside of a hula hoop and wearing a helmet, was surrounded by rows of children with bright red and yellow tomatoes at the ready. When the timer was started, children began to release a barrage of tomatoes at Pilkington. The children laughed and squealed as they tossed the tomatoes at Pilkington, who was doing his best to stay inside the hula hoop circle.
Children found lots of other activities to see and do at the family event as well. Seven-year-old Evie Fisher, wearing a tomato festival t-shirt, waited in line for her caricature to be drawn. Magician Mark Fuller, sponsored by Meadowbrook Library, entertained the children with his magic tricks. There was also the chance to compete in the children’s tomato eating contest, an obstacle course, and the TomatOlympics event.
“The obstacles are my favorite,” Fisher said.
For the obstacle course, children carried a bowl of tomatoes while traversing over, under, and through obstacles as quickly as they could.
The last event of the day was the tomato eating contest. Tables were set up in front of the bandstand. Organizers of the contest began setting out large bowls of chopped tomatoes and tomato juice as anxious participants sized up their opponents.
In the children’s contest, the competition was fierce, but one child named Owen Lafon would prove to be the quickest tomato-eater, taking home first place. Jake Yoder was the winner of the 2023 Eastmont Tomato Festival Adult Tomato Eating contest.
