Chilly temperatures and light rainfall weren't enough to keep true french-fry fans from attending the World's Largest French Fry Feed in University Park on Thursday night.
Long lines of adults and children of all ages waiting for the free snack filled the park.
"This year, we prepared 5,200 pounds of french fries for the event," said Dave Gottberg, Simplot's plant manager.
Simplot employees continuously poured bags of fries into a huge fryer to keep up with demand. Simplot has been supplying the fries for the annual Potato Bowl event for 17 years. "Each year, we increase the amount of fries we made the previous year so we can break our record," Gottberg said.
"We were a little worried this morning about the weather," he said. "We didn't think as many people would show up as usual, but it looks like a good turnout so far."
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The turnout was good, but not quite enough to beat last year's record.
"About 4,100 pounds of fries were eaten this year," said Scott Lund, quality assurance manager at Simplot. "So we were a little short of the 4,680 pounds from last year, but considering the cool weather and rain, we are still pretty happy with the numbers."
Good eating
Joyce and Reyne Hoffman of Grand Forks have been coming to the feed since their son played football at UND. "You can tell that more people come here every year," Joyce said. "And the french fries are always delicious."
"We've been to the French Fry Feed for probably the last 13 years," said Janel Howe, Grand Forks. "Of course, the free french fries keep us coming back, but it's also nice to see old friends and catch up with them. There's not many things like this to do in Grand Forks."
This was the second year that Deborah McDaniel of Grand Forks brought her daughters, Marlee, 2, and Helen, 4, to the event. "We came last year and the fries were so good," she said. "My daughters are addicted to them!"
Freshman UND students Meghan Wilkie and Whitney Shea didn't let the rain keep them away from the first french fry feed. "We walked here in the rain," Shea said, who was surprised at the huge turnout. "It seems like the whole town of Grand Forks is here."
Corey Thompson of East Grand Forks also was impressed with the turnout. "I thought the weather might keep some people away, but it doesn't seem less crowded this year than any other year I've been here."
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The band Sweet Freedom played a mixture of '50s, '60s and country music for the hungry crowd, and food booths with hot dogs and other refreshments also were available.
The event is part of Potato Bowl U.S.A., an annual weeklong event sponsored by UND and the Red River Valley potato-growing industry.
Potato Bowl events will continue today with a potato bar and potato recipe contest and will end Saturday with the 42nd annual Potato Bowl football game between UND and Central Washington.
