By Emma Stone
The Dubach Restoration and Beautification Organization (DRABO) hosted its annual Chicken Festival this past weekend.
DRABO was formed by eight women who were dedicated to restoring the pride of Dubach and have held the chicken festival since 1989.
This year, it began at 8 a.m. with arts, crafts, food and an antique car show followed by a pet show.
Pacer Bamburg won cutest pet for her cat which donned sunglasses. Dogs ruled the rest of the show with owners Paisley Bambug winning most unusual pet, Kaitlin Cagle receiving best personality pet and Kylie Dennigan taking home best in show.
Much laughter was had during one of the most iconic contests at the festival: the Strut, Cackle and Crow contest had attendees mimicking a chicken. Zayen Morries won first in the children’s category and Belinda Flowers won first in the adults.
Many booths were held where various vendors sold homemade crafts, soap, jewelry and much more.
Wanda Rae Jones, owner of Made in the South, creates art out of old wood.
“It started as a form of stress relief from COVID-19,” said Jones. “Now, this is my first time setting up a tent, and it’s gone really well.”
Jones works as a registered nurse full-time and runs a Facebook page for her art called Made in the South by Wanda Rae Jones.
“I started making things and decided I had to do something with all the stuff I was painting,” said Jones.
Small businesses were the highlight of the evening as more than 500 people attended the festival, its biggest crowd yet.
Renee Simpson, treasurer of DRABO, worked the booth selling t-shirts, but she does much more throughout the year.
“It’s going good for this year, but it is just so hot,” said Simpson. “I usually work to keep up the Dog Trot (House) and other projects around [Dubach]. But this year, we have had a really good turnout.”
To close out the festival, a parade was held in memory of Gina Stokes, previous DRABO events coordinator, who passed away in April.
Fellowship Baptist Church won first place with its Lego-themed float and handed out candy to the audience.
Throughout the festival, a raffle was ongoing for the Chicken Festival T-Shirt Quilt. Mike Roberson from Dubach won the quilt.