Mudfest

Published 9:58 pm Friday, October 11, 2013

A mom and dad hoist their child in a stroller over the soggy conditions at Peanut Fest on Friday, heading to see the thrills and spills of the Demolition Derby.

Men hoist a child in a stroller over the soggy conditions at Peanut Fest on Friday, heading to see the thrills and spills of the Demolition Derby.

Rain doesn’t dampen spirits

After thunderstorms and at least one lightning strike closed Thursday’s proceedings early, attendance at Friday’s installment of the Peanut Fest could have been much worse, given the persistent drizzle.

Though the festival site at Suffolk Executive Airport was markedly more devoid of people than in a year with perfect conditions, a healthy crowd still turned out — especially for the Demolition Derby at 6 p.m., for which the rain briefly abated.

“The people are still out, whether it’s raining or not,” said sideshow attendant John Wadsworth, pausing for a second amid his quest to introduce as many folks as possible to a tiny horse and giant rat, alligator and hog.

The Mills children — Katie, 7, Chloe, 9, and Easton, 5 — meet some friendly farm animals at the Peanut Fest petting zoo. The goats didn’t seem to mind the rain.

The Mills children — Katie, 7, Chloe, 9, and Easton, 5 — meet some friendly farm animals at the Peanut Fest petting zoo. The goats didn’t seem to mind the rain.

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“We weren’t going to let the weather dampen this year,” Lenora Parker, there with 3-year-old Maniya Davis, said in much the same spirit — though no powers of positive thinking could overcome the fact that things were actually pretty wet.

While many of the higher-adrenalin carnival rides were forlorn for their lack of spinning carriages and screaming riders, the weather seemed to suit some of the more relaxed attractions, such as the Hoopshot basketball game.

Amy Elliott — as her son Gilles Elliot lobbed basketballs at the hoop and her daughter Chrissy, 11, was off at the Zipper — said her family comes to Peanut Fest every year.

“His first trip here I was pregnant with him,” she said. “This is his 13th trip. It’s the sense of the community, and it’s our event. We go to celebrate Suffolk.”

The rain wasn’t going to stop sailor Josh Mills from spending some quality time out with his family.

Last year, he said, his wife took kids Chloe, 9, Katie, 7 and Easton, 5, while he was serving on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “That’s why we come out here and let the kids have some good times. It’s a great family event.”

When the engines started firing up for the Demolition Derby, the bleachers were already full. Muddy conditions seemed well-suited to the event — there was certainly no need to settle any dust, and the mud spatters were impressive.

Victor Hope, 14, said he likes “the cars and the engines.”

“The mud makes it hard to drive,” he observed, cars spinning wildly out of control a short distance away.

For Gates County resident and Suffolk native Justin Cornett, Peanut Fest is a chance to bring his wife and kids back to his old stomping ground.

“I’ve been coming every year since I was his age,” Cornett said, gesturing to his 7-year-old son, Dylan.

“We do more up this way than we do down there, because all my family’s in Suffolk.”