Published: September 08, 2008 10:31 pm      

Pork fest gets under way in Tipton

TIPTON — It was less than an hour after the 2008 Tipton County Pork Festival began. Already crowds were drifting toward the food tents and wandering the Courthouse Square in spite of the dark clouds overhead.

After spending Wednesday raising tents, overseeing portable toilets, and hanging signs, Jason Henderson paused to enjoy the food he helped promote for the 40th annual festival.

Henderson joined another group of individuals wearing hot pink T-shirts, listening to their walkie-talkies, and dealing with last-minute details.

“We say ‘Clear,’” Henderson said with a laugh. “[It’s like] being kids and playing with them all the time.”

Most of them enjoyed the little toys, Henderson said — except general manager Randy Byal. He said the background noise “gets on my nerves.”

Organizers were anticipating a large crowd by late afternoon and even more fairgoers throughout the weekend. Byal, Henderson and several others on the committee spend an entire year planning the three-day event, working out the logistics and bringing in the entertainment.

“This lunch is the test run,” Byal said, noting the first day is used to gauge what changes need to be made. “We don’t have big lines Thursday at noon. I think it’s been real smooth. We haven’t had any personal crises yet.”

The festival’s fame reaches far outside the north central Indiana area.

Petra Griffin, of Atlanta, Ga., said none of her friends back home have heard of Tipton, Ind., “but if you say pork festival, they’re like ‘Oh yeah, we know where that is.”

Her husband, Weston, is a Tipton native, and the couple and their two daughters — Gabi, 4, and Emma, 1 — were in town visiting family.

While Weston’s an old pro, this was the rest of the family’s first pork festival experience.

He wanted them to see shows and introduce them to old friends.

He was glad Granpa Cratchet was still around for his children to see.

Byal said he was glad to see so many people coming to Tipton. He said the first organizers didn’t expect the festival to become this popular.

“When they first did it, they didn’t think it would last 40 years,” he said. “The first year, they were cooking on charcoal. It’s really evolved over the years. It’s gotten bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Byal said committee members and volunteers put numerous hours into the festival, and that it’s worth it.

“When it’s all set up, we just brought 100,000 people to little, old Tipton.”