World Champion Squirrel Cook Off

[bfishn]

46 minutes ago, Quillback said:

You going to wear the big furry hat?  So I can spot you in the crowd of course.

Knowing some of those that will likely attend, I suspect there will be a variety of big, furry hats... 🤠

[Gavin]

That should be fun! I've attended the Sucker Fest in Nixa, and the Turkey Trot in Yellville a few times. Do they toss the squirrels out of low flying aircraft?

[BilletHead]

2 minutes ago, Gavin said:

That should be fun! I've attended the Sucker Fest in Nixa, and the Turkey Trot in Yellville a few times. Do they toss the squirrels out of low flying aircraft?

Ha! Only flying squirrels. 

[bfishn]

Looks like I'm going. (noonish) I'll be the smartest-looking, fat, bald, bearded, wanna-be, has-been there, in a black Lilleys' shirt and straw hat.

AGFC just dumped this on YouTube;

 

 

[BilletHead]

38 minutes ago, bfishn said:

Looks like I'm going. (noonish) I'll be the smartest-looking, fat, bald, bearded, wanna-be, has-been there, in a black Lilleys' shirt and straw hat.

AGFC just dumped this on YouTube;

 

 

                Thanks,

   I will probably be wearing my Squirrel whisperer brown shirt and straw hat     @Quillback how should we find you besides looking for a tall person? 

[Quillback]

11 hours ago, BilletHead said:

                Thanks,

   I will probably be wearing my Squirrel whisperer brown shirt and straw hat     @Quillback how should we find you besides looking for a tall person? 

I'll be sporting my light camo big brim all around hat.  Kind of a light gray camo.  Probably get there around 11 AM.  I'll dig out my green camo T-shirt.  Of course with all that camo on, I'll be hard to spot.

[Quillback]

I went.  Saw Marty and Pat, did not see Bfishin, but I was outta there about 1145, so he may not have yet arrived.  A lot of people in a small area, it was a lot more than I expected.

But it was good for a visit.  Got some free food, several bowls of excellent Jambalaya which seemed to be the most popular deal for the cookers out there.  Only squirrel I got was in a sort of Asian soup, but it was good.  Also ate an Asian Carp fish cake, my first taste of that particular fish, and it was pretty darned good.  Scored a couple of fried crappie chunks and a piece of goose sausage.  It was all good stuff.  

Ended up spending money on a T-shirt, but got out of there without any other wallet damage.

Visited the nature center for the first time.  It's more geared towards kids, if you're ever in NW Arkansas and are looking for somewhere to take the kids, I'd recommend it.

Had to walk a half mile from the parking lot (I need some exercise so no big deal).  If I ever go again I'll shoot for getting there right before they open for closer parking and more food is available.  

Could not ask for better weather.  Temps in the low 70's, bluebird skies and no humidity.

 

Pack goats:

Weird stuffed elk (leucistic?) 

 

Spotted kingsnake:

[BilletHead]

    It was great to see you Jeff, 

 You scored on some other stuff than we did but had enough that we needed no lunch and got ice cream on the way home. We left about 12:30. Missed Bfishin also. Pat really wanted to meet him and thank him for getting us on the last waltz video. T shirt for me also. A bunch of vendors pawning goods. From a wood carver doing spoon and other wood cooking utensils like spurtles. He did good work and I saw several people walking around with his wares. A brewery was selling a limited edition of beer. We did not partake but seen cans being carried around and being sipped on. Two people were different. One was dumping his into the grass and I asked is it that bad? Yes! Another lady that was selling the t shirts was making a frown with each sip 😁. At one stop was another squirrel sample with a big jug of lemonade,full of lemon and orange slices. Said adult only. Spiked I presume? Yes you both need some. A live band that was not bad. The vocalist was singing and dancing with every child walking by. Lots of people and as we were leaving more were piling in. Umerex air rifles were there. I was wanting to stick around long enough for the squirrel skinning contest but my sinuses are a wreck with this dry wind laden with pollen and dust. All plugged up and pressure headache. Pat drove to and from the shindig. On the way home two hours my eyes were closed. No samples given from any contestants. There were many, many teams cooking for that. It's was smelling so good all over the place. 

  Like Jeff said kids of all ages has no problem finding things to do. Great family event. 

  I wore my squirrel whisperer t shirt. Several people wanted pictures. One guy said can I get your picture too? Heck no. Too funny. 

[Quillback]

Hey, I forgot to mention Marty's hand, the one he tore up pretty bad.  He shook my hand and of course i had completely forgotten about his hand mishap so I gave him the good old firm hand shake.  Had I remembered I would've lightened up on the shake.  But his hand was fine and looking at it you could not tell that it had been torn up not too long ago.  His surgeon did an amazing job!

I forgot about the band and yes they were very kid friendly.  They had a moo contest going on where they held a mike to the kids and got them to give their best MOOOO!  It was funny to watch.

I would've like to have seen the squirrel skinning contest, but I was ready to go and did not hang around for that.

 

[bfishn]

17 hours ago, Quillback said:

...Had to walk a half mile from the parking lot (I need some exercise so no big deal).  If I ever go again I'll shoot for getting there right before they open for closer parking and more food is available.  

Could not ask for better weather.  Temps in the low 70's, bluebird skies and no humidity...

 

I "got there" about noon, spent 15 minutes trying to find parking, had given up when my contorted path back to the highway led me by a lot a car was pulling out of. By then I had lost track of where I was in relation to the event, Google showed me over a mile away. Still lots of people everywhere, so I joined a crowd standing near a corner and in a few minutes a shuttle came by and picked us up. 35 minutes later it dropped us at the site, none too soon as I was about to pee my pants. Started with the nature center (bathroom) which was pretty cool. Then outside to the tents, where the food had all been cooked and submitted for judging. Got in on a bit of the fish fry, but no squirrel for me either.

Spent the next ~45 minutes browsing and looking for you guys to no avail. By then the line for leaving shuttles had shortened some, so I stood there another 15 minutes to get on a shuttle that took another 35 minutes to pass where I'd parked. REALLY glad that I dropped a waypoint at the truck when I parked... they drove around parts of Springdale I'd never seen.

It certainly was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed it despite the poor logistics. Definitely will pre-check the parking situation before returning though. Sorry I missed you guys, I had a little gift for the Billetheads in my pocket, but it can wait for another time.

My biggest surprise was not seeing anyone I knew there. I know/have known a lot of folks around here that I expected to bump into, or at least a few. I couldn't help but ponder how much this area has changed and grown in ~40 years on the drive home.