Hot enough to fry green tomatoes at Slocomb festival

It wasn’t that the crowd didn’t appreciate the foot-stomping, hand-clapping, make-you-want-to-dance music that Shane Owens and The Springs provided Saturday afternoon at the 21st Annual Slocomb Tomato Festival, but it was wise to be stationary.

Movement — just about any kind including hand-clapping and foot-stomping — invited perspiration. The temperature gauge read 99 degrees at 2 p.m. Saturday and the heat index was 107 degrees, so the lucky ones found a space under a shade tree and the rest sat quietly, smiling appreciatively and conserving energy.

Frances Bush sat at a picnic table. Her red slushie was no match for the weather with most of the ice shavings melting quickly to join liquid form along with the water and cherry flavoring. She had not planned on making the trip from Bonifay, Fla., Saturday, but her grandchildren left her no choice.

Known as “Nanny Bush” by the hundreds she took care of over the years as a nursery worker at her church in Bonifay, she sat and listened the music as The Springs took over for Shane Owens on the main stage at Slocomb Recreation Park. A hat covered her head.

Meanwhile, Ouida and Terry Phillips took advantage of a snow cone sold by one of more than 60 vendors on hand. Ouida brought a cooler full of ice and a blue washcloth, enough to make the extreme heat and humidity bearable throughout the day.

“Just do the best you can. Drink lots of water,” she said.

People were able to find ways to mitigate the heat Saturday at the festival. A light breeze helped. Children rode the K&L Express Train around the ballfields, creating their own breeze. Other children took advantage of the inflatables, especially one that sprayed a continual mist of water. Still others parked themselves under a shade tree, or made friends with a vendor to spend time under one of their tents.

Of course, tomatoes remained the focal point as hungry patrons grabbed cool tomato slices, tomato sandwiches and even fried green tomatoes.
The 21st annual Slocomb Tomato Festival drew a healthy crowd, all things considered. The festival is always held the third weekend of June and town officials usually have to contend with showers and thunderstorms, not triple-digit temperatures. After all, the first official day of summer is today.

But organizers are already thinking about the 22nd annual festival, hoping to expand it and making it the biggest and best ever.