Report from Indy Car Race at RIR

Inside Stand #1

A new milestone was accomplished this weekend for the Big Red Crew at the Indy Car Race from Richmond Raceway.  With the help of my friend Salim of Amira Enterprises, my main concession supply wholesaler, we had two set ups.  One was under the new tower where we were for the Nascar race in May, the other out on the compound in the food court.

Salim also provided several of his employees who are quite proficient in cooking funnel cakes and proved invaluable to me on Saturday night.

Friday was terribly slow at both locations with stand #2 leading in sales mainly from bottled drinks. The only really busy time was the hour during the autograph session held on the compound.

Outside Stand #2

Saturday during the day, #2 stayed steady.  Jean, Peggy and I spent the day staring at each other and cleaning up from the storm that past through Richmond around midnight.

At 6pm, all hell broke loose.  In the matter of five minutes or so, we had a huge line and it stayed that way until after the race about 11 pm.  As the outside booth slowed down, Salim sent one of his guys in to help and after the race started, Salim came in.   Salim and Caesar handled the fryers, Peggy and Jean manned the register and sugaring.  I mixed batter and kept the pitchers full.  When everything was going, we were turning out 6 funnel cakes per minute.  And still the line was incredible.

View from Stand #2 in the Early Morning before the Crowds

When all was said and done, we were very close to our sales from May.  That was quite an accomplishment since I was told to expect about 25% of sales from the Nascar race. The inside booth edged the outside booth by about $100 even though they sold three times the bottled drinks we did and a case more corndogs.

Bottom line–another very good outing.  Hopefully, the future might see us doing some other tracks in this region of Americrown.

Once again, I can’t say enough about the Americrown folks.  They are really great to vendors like us even down to the guys that keep us supplied with ice and the crew that is constantly cleaning up and emptying trash.  And, of course, Todd and Danny from RIR’s Americrown office, checked on us regularly and offered advice on how we can improve for our next race.  They are a wonderful resource for us as well.  One of the suggestions was a shuffling of equipment so that the inside stand should be able to produce 10 funnel cakes per minute.  There is also a good chance that we’ll have two stands inside for the Nascar race in September.

So, it’s back to baseball after a couple days of bookeeping and cleaning equipment.  I’ll be leaving the farm on Thursday for a home stand with the P Nats over the 4th weekend including a game on Saturday that is sold out.  Should be huge.  And, just maybe, we’ll get a needed break in the weather.

This post is dedicated to Peggy’s quilts. We have several here at the farm  and love them.  Please keep in mind, I am not a photographer.  The pictures were taken during her recent Quilt and Yard Sale.

Nor am I an expert on quilts. There is a difference between handmade and homemade, only I don’t know what it is. I can tell you that these are made by hand, not by a quilting machine.  And she puts about a bizzillion hours in each one.

If this works right, I’ll download a picture, put in a description and price.  If you’re interested, I can be reached via email chillie@houseofalls.com or phone, 434-2589264.  We’ll work out the details. and. yes. I can take credit cards.

I think Peggy sells them way to cheaply, but then I sleep under one every night and know how nice they are.

62x84 Dresden's Plate $75.00 plus shipping

Full Size Blocks of Nine $75.00 plus shipping

Full Size Buckeye $75.00 plus shipping

Full Size Continuous Block of Nine $75.00 plus shipping

72x92 Courthouse Steps, Hand Beaded $125.00 plus shipping

Pink Baby Quilt w/matching pillow $25.00 plus shipping

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy.

New Set Up for P nats

It has been awhile since I did a Ramblings post.  This is just a bunch of disjointed thoughts that have been bouncing around in my little pea brain.

One day while on the road, I came out of a Walmart bathroom, a bit shaken and very pale. 

“What’s wrong?” Peggy asked.

“I need a hospital,” I stammered.

Thinking the worst, she asked, “Is it your heart?”

“No,” I responded.  “I’ve shrunk.  I can’t reach the urinal”

It seems that the urinal in that Walmart was about 4 1/2 feet off the ground.  I couldn’t even think about hitting it.  I’m just not built that way–in more ways than one.  You’d have to be about 8 feet tall to reach it.  I was aghast.

Entertainment on Friday

Peggy’s grandson has started putting two and three words that you can understand together but he still mostly talks in some foreign tongue.  When we got back to Peggy’s and I was relating the urinal story to Todd (Peggy’s son and Kagen’s father) Kagen stood right next to me and mimicked everything I said including the hand gestures I used trying to show how to hit an 8 footers urinal.  It was much funnier than my story.

For the past 22 days, I’ve been home for 12 hours.  That run finally came to an end last night when I got to the farm about 10PM.  I’m here until Wednesday when I head to Richmond to set up for the Indy Car Races this weekend.

While I know this won’t be as big as the NASCAR races in May, the Big Red Crew will have two locations.  One will be at the foot of the new tower inside the track where we were in May, the other outside on the compound in the food court on the parking lot.  There will be other vendors and merchandise trailers.  Hopefully, with the two locations, we’ll come close to our sales from May.

I have invited Danica Patrick to stop by for a funnel cake on me.  So, I’ll keep a camera close by just in case.  Peggy will also have her leash nearby.

I announced this morning that Big Red was going on a worldwide tour.  Actually, we’re going to Louisville on July 21, but that seems worldwide to me.  Jason has lined me up to sell at Waterfront Park in downtown Louisville during the day, and then we’ll move over to the Social Media Club of Louisville’s outing that evening for burgers, dogs, fries and funnel cakes.  I’m hoping to announce a sponsor for that event in the upcoming days but at any rate, we’re going to Kentucky.

12 Yr Old Singer Brandon Diaz

My war with the weatherman and Mother Nature continues.  My long home stand with the Potomac Nationals had more rain problems this week but we still managed a pretty good 8 days. I got hammered on Monday for $1 days.  Way beyond my projections plus I was by myself.  Tuesday was a little slow, Wednesday was rained out.  We set up Thursday only to have the game cancelled due to a flooded outfield.  Total sales for the day- $29. Friday was OK but nothing like a weekend should be.  We did have some entertainment again.  Pretty good youth group band playing Christian rock.  A big storm hit Saturday afternoon and flooded the outfield again.  Finally the double header was cancelled and rescheduled starting at 10AM on Sunday.  At least there were enough people hanging around that we had a pretty good day.  Sunday was OK after folks came in the afternoon.  Nothing for the early game however.

On Thursday, one of the cancelled games, a 12 year old  by the name of Brandon Diaz was supposed to sing the National Anthem.  Good young man with a great voice.  Too bad he didn’t get to perform.  Hopefully the P Nats will get him again for a game real soon.

Some of Peggy's Quilts

I’ve been driving for some 44 years and in that time, I’ve had three blowouts.  Two have been in the past 30 days, the one Friday at 70MPH and a little dicey on my driving skills.  Peggy was in Sweet Pea both times.  Is there any conclusion I can draw from that?

Before the last home stand of the Nationals, I spent the weekend in Harrisonburg helping Peggy with a Quilt and Yard Sale.  She has some quilts left and I got pictures of them.  I hope to get another post up before I leave this week featuring her quilts.  If interested in any of them, let me know.

Finally, a big welcome back to Liberty U as it appears Big Red will be returning for football season this fall.  I’m bringing Tank out of retirement to run that operation as I will be all over the country as usual.

I usually like weathermen.  This goes all the way back to my television days

Outfield on Saturday after flooding

 about 100 years ago when the weather guy took me under his arm and taught me the real ins and out of local TV production. I even filled in for him while he was on vacation once doing the weather during local news broadcasts.

Since then, I follow the weather closely.  And, as my Twitter followers know, I retweet our local advisories when I’m at home just in case there are folks out there that might miss it on their TV or local radio.

GM Jonathon Griffith Oversees Autograph Session

However, I am giving some serious consideration to putting out a contract hit on the weather guy in Woodbridge because he has been driving  me nuts recently.

I’ve just finished a long home stand with the Potomac Nationals.  It started last Thursday with a game that was rained out.

Friday’s game was also rained out.  And was so bad that the outfield was actually under water.

Saturday was a double header.  The grounds crew at Pfitzner Stadium did an awesome job and the field looked great by the 4 PM start.

Storm Moving In

The game was huge for us, surpassing out previous best game by over $300.  Just to complicate things, one of my fryers died in the middle of the second game, but we got around it.

Sunday was another double header and we started off at a better pace than Saturday.  But by the fifth inning of the first game, due to the heat, many of the fans, especially those with kids, began leaving and our totals for the day were down.  But still a good day.

One of our customers, a lady who comes to every game, stands outside the tent and tells everyone within hearing distance that we have the best funnel cakes in northern Virginia.  Nice to get free advertising like that.

Scary Skies Over The Pfitz

Monday was an off day.

Tuesday, I was set up and ready to go when the storm from hell hit.  I’ve never seen skies so scary in my life.  When the first big gust of wind hit, it lifted the tent, two 6′ tables and me off the ground.  As most of you know, I’m not a little skinny guy.  So that was a GUST of wind. Then it rained something like 4 inches in an hour.  Have you ever seen a box  with seven pounds of powdered sugar and 4 inches of rain?  What a mess.

Wednesday, we actually got in about 5 innings before another storm hit.

Emma Bailey Band

Thursday, just about game time, one cell went to the north of the stadium, one to the south but it missed us.  Probably scared off a lot of folks heading to the game, but we got the whole game in and it didn’t hit rain until the drive home.

Thursday was the highlight of the week for me, but not because of business.  It was Ladies Night at Pfitzner and the P Nats sponsored a concert before the game by the Emma Bailey Band. (www.emma-bailey.com) They set up right next to me and I had some entertainment for the pregame. The band has a couple of guitars, a bass, a bongo/harmonica guy that rocked, and Emma, who has a voice to die for.  They were fabulous, probably the best group I’ve seen at any venues the past couple of years. Too bad there weren’t a couple thousand fans to hear them.

Uncle Slam Enjoys the Music

They would have played after game as well, but the storms were heading right for us again.

Guido, how much for a contract on a weatherman?

I’m at the farm for a total of 14 hours, including the time I slept last night.  Then, I’m off to Harrisonburg for the weekend and back to Woodbridge for another seven day home stand of the P Nats. Then the Indy Race at Richmond.

Reports to follow.

Busy Weekend at Pfitzner

The highlight of a very busy week is a bit unusual, even for me and some of my antics.  I was adopted and upstaged–by a 7th grader.  I’ll get to that in its proper place.

The long home stand of the Potomac Nationals started off great. Friday’s game was solid.  Saturday’s was awesome and all that Peggy and I could handle.  Sunday was like Friday.

We’d counted on Monday being like Saturday.  The Nationals do $1 tickets and $1 dogs on any Monday game.  Couple that with a holiday, and it looked huge.  Started off great.  Then the storm from Hell hit.  Rained hard for an hour and a half starting right after the first inning. One of the old timers told me it was the hardest rain he’d ever seen at Pfitzner Stadium.  Something like 4 inches.

The Skies Opened and It Poured

Tuesday’s double header was also rained out forcing another double header on Wednesday.  It was OK but nothing like we lost on Monday.

All in all, it was our best outing so far at Pfitzner and surely has my hopes high for the rest of the season.  After school is out, attendance during the week will go up substantially and the weekends will all be good.

One scary thought.  As busy as Peggy and I were on Saturday, I found out the attendance was less than half of what to expect on most Saturdays.  That translates into doubling my sales so I’ve got to make some changes to handle that volume. Maybe I can entice Kaitlyn to come up from Richmond and help.  She could give us an extra person when we get those long lines plus I could send her into the stands hawking when its slower.  She’d draw a crowd, that’s for sure.

Can You Email Me a Funnel Cake?

I’m also making arrangements with Reddy Ice to put in a freezer and a supply of ice.  Nothing worse than running out in the middle of a good game when you’re slinging lemonade as fast as you can make it.

Friday was the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in Danville. Peggy is still busy unpacking boxes so my sister, Jean, was slated to help. I got to Carrington Pavilion early afternoon and began set up for a 5 PM star

A nice looking young fellow came up and began chatting, asking if I needed any help. Found out later, TJ is a 7th grader, the son of a lady cop who was one of the Team Captains for the Relay.  He hung out with me until Jean got there and as we finally got busy (after five thunderstorms passed), pitched in and started helping.  In no time, he was operating the cash register, serving customers, cooking burgers while I cooked fries and funnel cakes.  It was like he’d been doing it all of his life.

Set Up For Danville Relay For Life

And, he knew everyone in Danville.  Big Red became like the meeting center for the whole Relay.  And it was because of TJ.  He just completely adopted us.  So much so that I was able to send Jean home a little after midnight.  TJ stayed with me until 5 AM when his grandmother took him home.

He was terrific.  Sharp witted, and a great sense of humor.  And, worked his butt off.

One customer was waiting for a funnel cake and TJ said, “You sure have pretty eyes.  Are they real?”  The twinkle in his eyes had the customer and the crowd in line laughing at his comment.

Another time he hailed a walker over and stated,”You need to buy some fries.  Chillie makes the best I’ve ever tasted.”

“Don’t have any money,” the participant replied.

“Well go on and get out of here.  We don’t need you,” TJ quipped.

That went on all night.  So, I was adopted and upstaged all at the same time.

Some of the Survivors During Opening

TJ, if you read this, email me at chillie@houseofalls.com.  I need your last name,  phone number and email address.  I have a job for you.

If you’ve never been to an ACS Relay For Life, go to one or support someone who is participating.  It is a most impressive event and, of course, supports a cause that has effected all of us in one way or another.

Business was good at the Relay until midnight.  Then it got really slow.  I started breakfast about 3 AM and it bombed. To bad for those folks.  My Biscuits and Gravy was KICKIN!

By the time I packed up and drove Big Red back to the farm, I was bushed.  Slept a couple of hours and then was totally worthless for the rest of the day.  Glad I didn’t have anything booked Saturday night.

Now I have and few days off for a change.  The pool is open so I see some tanning time in the near future.  And probably some relaxing time on my John Deere. This is my only break for awhile.

Thurday opens another 7 game home stand with the Nationals. Then the Smyth County Relay for Life and 7 more games followed by the Indy Race at RIR.  Wonder if Danica likes Funnel Cakes. HMMMMM!

Once again, I’m departing from my usual format of reporting on Big Red’s activities in the funnel cakes business.  That report will come after tomorrow’s American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Danville, Virginia.

Earlier today, LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens said in an interview that she would encourage golfers to use Twitter and other social media tools during competitive rounds of the tour. This started an avalanche of comments and has certainly given many, including me,  food for thought.

As a fan of both Twitter and the LPGA, I have some serious concerns about Bivens position.

First, I feel that the LPGA and many of its members that are using Twitter, have got it right.  Several of the golfers Twitter daily and while some are just communicating between each other, several are using it to engage in dialogue with fans. This is good for the LPGA and the golfers because it gives us, the fan, an insight into the personalities we never see when watching on TV or reading reports in the mainstream media.

I use Christina Kim as an example.  She probably Tweets more than any of the lady golfers.  While I’m sure she doesn’t have the time or inclination to respond to every follower who ask questions, she does respond to us little guys on a regular basis.  As a result, both her fan base and the fan base of the LPGA has gone up. She’s not the only one, I’ve had contact and responses from many of the ladies.  This is good for the LPGA and golf in general.

The LPGA is also doing a pretty good job with their own Tweets.  Personally, I’d like to see them give more emphasis to reporting on the Twitter Ladies during tournaments, but I understand that they have to support all of their members whether they Twitter or not.

As a fan, I would love to see Tweets from the course during a tournament.  I’ve informally polled several of the LPGA members, and have had a mixed response.  Some would like it and use it, some feel it wouldn’t be right for them and could hurt their game. Not that I’m a polling expert, but so far, it has been a pretty even split.

Again, as a fan. I am deeply concerned with several things and how it will effect the game.

First, what will Tweeting do to the concentration of golfers when it counts the most for both them, and their supporters.  Will that lapse in concentration be a factor in lessening the quality of play and possibly cost the Twitterer a stroke here or there.

Secondly, will Tweeting have an effect on the pace of play.  I’d hate to see one of “the girls” catch a penalty for slow play just because they had to update on their last birdie, bogey, or ball in the water.

And, of course, all of this may be nullified when the USGA makes a ruling concerning the use of handheld phones or mobile devices.  The PGA does not allow it.  But apparently, Bevins position may force a ruling that could change the whole picture for both tours. Currently, most tournaments make fans turn off cell phones to eliminate noise for the players (Rightly so).  Why then should players be allowed to use that same device to Twitter.

As much as I like Twitter and spend hours daily following, Tweeting, and reading links from the Twitterworld, there may be a time and place for all of us.  During a tournament might not be the time and place.

Most of my posts are related to  Big Red and the funnel cake business.  This week, I feel obligated to divert from my usual format to discuss a problem.

As I’ve twittered for the past few days, I’ve been in Harrisonburg helping Peggy, her son, Todd, and her grandson, Kagen, move.  They’ve been in a condo/apartment for years and have now moved into a big, old house with a huge yard ideal for Kagen and his never ceasing energy.

I’ve always considered myself an independent sort, many times mistakenly thinking I can do anything.  I know I can’t run a four minute mile nor can  I  bench press  400 lbs.  Maybe, I can walk 1/4 of a mile and bench press a #2 pencil.  But still, I have a strong belief in doing almost anything else.  I once even put four stitches in a cut on my hand just to avoid going to the doctor for help. 

But, now, I need help.  Thus this Help Wanted ad.

Interpreter Needed

Kagen talks incessantly.  Especially, on the phone.  Sunday night, he talked with my sister for 45 minutes giving Jean very little chance to get a word in.

Put him in the car, and it’s a non-stop diatribe of everything he sees.  If he’s awake, he’s talking.  An then, he’ll say something funny because he starts laughing out loud.

He doesn’t just speak in words or bits of sentences.  He doesn’t even speak in paragraphs.  He speaks in pages of dialogue.

Plus, he is extremely demonstrative.  Not only with the inflection in his voice, but the use of his hands.  You’d think he was an orator delivering a speech rousing the crowd to a feverish pitch emphasizing every point with his hands.  Monday, when Peggy stopped at the post office to change her address, Kagen entertained everyone, including the sorters in the back who came out front to see who was carrying on such a conversation.

Only, none of us have any idea what he is saying. 

Yes, there are a few words.  He calls his father, Daddy unless he’s mad at him and calls him TODD! He calls me OomPa, close to grandpa.  You can understand  Cows, Kit-cat, drink, blankey, Good Job, and I’m Happy.  And, of course, as all two year olds know:  NO. 

I speak bits and pieces of five languages: English, Spanish, French, German and Korean.  Now, don’t get all goofy.  I can ask where the bathroom is and give me a double shot of bourbon in those languages.  You know, the important things.

Kagen must speak Chinese or something because I don’t have a clue.

Thus, the need for an interpreter.  Please reply.  I think he really has something important to say.  Just don’t know what it is.

I’m off for Woodbridge again on Friday for a six game home stand of the Potomac Nationals over the Memorial Day weekend.  Should be a really busy group of games.  A report to follow.

Tent Set Up For Potomac Nationals

To all my many readers, both of you, this post will not be full of prose and biting humor.  Due to time constraints, it is just a brief report and then I’m on the road again.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday  was a short 3 game home stand of the Potomac Nationals at Woodbridge.  Since it was a midweek set in May before the kiddies are out of school, we weren’t counting on much but it gave us the chance to use our tent set up inside Pfitzner Stadium rather than the partially hidden location for Big Red outside.

It was much better than I expected eventhough Thursday night was a downer with bad weather called for and showers starting about the 6th inning.  Poor crowd for that one.  But it served its purpose and I think I got all the bugs worked out for next week.

Getting  on the road late  Thursday night, it was nearly 3:00 am by the time I got back to the farm.  After a little sleep, I started getting everything ready for the American Cancer Society Relay For Life in Bedford County, an event that was scheduled for 6 pm until 6 am on Friday.

The Liberty High School track and football field was a mess after something like 4 inches of rain.  It forced officials to move the event inside leaving Big Red in another tough location behind the school and not very visable.  Since more rain was expected, ACS folks also shortened the event ending it a little after 10 pm.

My sister, Jean, helped since Peggy is in the process of moving.  And, we got slammed.  Great night for funnel cakes, dogs, fries and Bar-b-que despite the poor location.  For nearly three hours, it was all we could handle.

Today, I’m trying to get caught up on paperwork and then I’m off to Harrisonburg to help Peggy with the move. This week, Friday is the start of a six day homestand for the Nationals over Memorial Day weekend.  This should be a really good group of games as long as the weather cooperates.  Then, back to the farm for the Danville Relay for Life on the 29th.  As I’ve been doing, I’ll send Twitter updates via phone.

No rest for this old fat guy.

Big Red’s sojourn into Maryland for the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival proved

Big Red at Bethesda Fine Arts Festival

successful despite a few bumps in the road.  Thankfully, none of those had anything to do with the festival.

Big Red, nor I, do very well in 16 lanes of traffic especially on Friday afternoon during rush hour.  That’s when we got to Maryland.  Back roads around DC have 16 lanes I think.

After Peggy and I picked up the trailer at Woodbridge and performed a modest cleaning job, we headed north and our motel reservation in Silver Springs.  The traffic was unbelievable causing us to consider what Marylanders must do.  In the morning when getting the kids off to school, you’d better pack an extra sandwich, an extra bottle of water and a change of underwear because guaranteed, the kidlets will be late getting home.  Maybe three of four days late.  Stuck on I495 or one of the other roads around Washington.

Then we discovered that the cities of Silver Springs and Bethesda are not laid out in nice square blocks like I’m used to.  Everything is in triangles, but nobody told me that.  Imagine my surprise when on Saturday morning after searching for a grocery store only to find one in the basement of some high-rise with no parking, I dropped Peggy off, told her to run into the store and pick up 10 lbs of sugar, and I’d drive around the block and pick her up.  No problem.  Four right turns and I’m back in the same place.  WRONG.  Four right turns and I think I was in Delaware.  41 miles later, I finally found Peggy standing on the corner calling me every name you can think of.  I was tempted to put out an Amber Alert–on me!  At least she didn’t go with either of the sailors or the wino that tried to pick her up.

Bethesda Fine Arts Festival

The festival itself was fabulous and I can’t say enough about Lauren Hamilton and her staff.  Great event, one that I hope to be invited to next year.  I’m guessing their attendance might have been down a little from previous years, but not enough to matter.

Peggy kicked butt with crepes.  More than we’ve ever done before.  Lemonade on Saturday was awesome and we rolled with funnel cakes both days.  The only disappointment from our limited menu was sweet tea and I forgot that Yankees don’t drink sweet tea and I was north of the Mason Dixon line.  Oh, well, we still sold about 4 gallons (about 10% of our lemonade sales).

The only other problem came from Peggy spending almost all of her time either cooking crepes or squeezing lemons.  That left me to cook the funnel cakes, add the powdered sugar and toppings, fix the drinks, serve the customers and take their money.  At least we didn’t have hundreds of people standing in line.  We did have four or five in line the entire weekend, but that gave us a pretty comfortable pace.

All in all, a great weekend.

This week continues my crazy pace.  I’m home for a total of 16 hours mostly spent cleaning, doing laundry and packing for the next Potomac Nationals home stand. I have to be in Woodbridge tomorrow morning to get set up for an 11 AM start with about 4,000 kids coming.  I’m there for three games and then head back to the farm for the Bedford County Relay For Life on Friday, an event that lasts from 6PM until 6AM Saturday morning.

Hopefully, then, I can get a full night’s sleep.

Big Red Tent Setup at RIR

Big Red’s Crew scored a major victory this weekend at the races at Richmond Raceway. While we’ve become accustomed to long lines at some of our better events, we were shocked to see  50-100 people in line for 9 straight hours.  It just never slowed down.

My week started out poorly on Tuesday.  I dropped off a load of equipment at RIR, plus picked up an extra fryer from Salim at Amira Concessions, my main supplier.

Next, I took off for Woodbridge for a baseball game.  There was like 50 people in the stands and I struggled thru a night of selling one funnel cake, one mini-funnel cake and one cup of lemonade.  Wednesday’s game was rained out as was Sunday’s.  I was closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the races.  Of course, those were good games with good crowds.  Oh, well.  We’ll make up for that at the next home stand.

We Were Setup at the Base of the New Tower

Thursday was spent getting everything ready, going thru a Health Department inspection,  a visit from the Fire Marshall and getting credentials taken care of for my staff.  Everything was fine and we were ready to go.

Friday, we opened at 9:00 am for the early practice sessions and later in the day for qualifying for both the Nationwide Series Race Friday night and the Sprint Cup Race Saturday night.  The Charlie Daniels Band did a concert but it was out on the compound, and we were set up inside the fence.

Things were spotty during the day until about 4:00 pm and then we got busy.  By the end of the race about 10:30 pm, we had finished a really good day.

I understand that Jr. stopped by and had a Richmond Dog at the booth next to mine, took a look at the long line at our tent, and took off.  That was the closest I came to any driver sighting for the weekend.   I just stayed to busy to look.

Friday, Jean and Kaitlyn worked the front, while Peggy and I handled the cooking.  Remember, we were only doing funnel cakes and corn dogs.

Jennifer and Kaitlyn

Several people at the track told us as popular as we were on Friday, it would be twice that on Saturday and we probably needed more help.  So Kaitlyn called in a friend of hers, Jennifer Bangs.  On Saturday, Jennifer was the sugar queen moving product from Peggy and I to Kaitlyn and Jean up front and, of course, powder-sugaring the cakes.  As we got into the flow of things, Kaitlyn ended up coming back and helping with the frying.  She took to it like a real pro.  Basically, I’d go down the line pouring cakes.  Then Kaitlyn, or Peggy, would pull the rings, flip the cakes and put them on the plates while I was re-pouring.  We were actually serving at a rate of six funnel cakes every minute and a  half or so.

Yes our lines were ridiculously long.  But we turned them pretty quickly.

At our next races, the Indy Car Race at Richmond in June, I’m adding another fryer at least.  Two of us will be pouring and one flipping and pulling.  That should get us up to 9 or 10 every minute  and a half.

No Line Means The Race Is Over and Everybody Is Gone

Still, after nine hours or so at that pace, you’re exhausted.  And, I was.  We doubled what we did on Friday, setting both a new sales record for a day, and a record for a weekend.

If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know I make fun of everyone around me.  Jean, Peggy and Kaitlyn have all been the target of caustic comments I’ve made.  Today, I can say nothing but good about the girls, and Jennifer.  They were fantastic.  And, Peggy was doing it with a cracked rib.

What One Looks Like After Cooking 1,000 Funnel Cakes

I also can’t say enough about the Americrown staff.  They were fabulous.   Not just Todd and Danny that I work with all the time, but everyone.  Even down to the guys that came around to empty the trashcans.  We even had a nice visit with the President of Americrown.  They’re just an unbelievable company and I’m proud to be associated with them.

There are a bunch of pictures from Richmond.  Just click on the Flickr thingy on the right and it will link you.

This week, I’m leaving on Wednesday for Peggy’s and spend a couple nights with her grandson, Kagen.  Friday, early, Peggy and I head for Woodbridge to pick up Big Red, clean it, and drive to Bethesda, Maryland for the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival which starts Saturday morning.  They’re expecting 20,000 or so for the two day event and we’re the only funnel cake vendor.  Also, Big Red will offer crepes, lemonade and sweet tea.  So it should be another big weekend.

A report will follow, plus I’ll try to Twitter updates during the weekend.

While I was gone, my niece, Amanda, (@Zooleft to you Twitter folks) got into an argument with one of my animals, Brat the Cat.  It apparently was quite vocal on both their parts and after consulting with both, I think Brat the Cat won.

Later, y’all.