THE BALLOON MAN

Fiddle sticks & funnel cakes: Concession stands draw foodies to the fair each year


 

Caitlin Vann eats a funnel cake at the 2007 West Tennessee State Fair. / Jackson Sun file photo
from: jacksonsun.com
By Ellen Kimbro
Sep 4, 2012
For 51 years, Jane Pope of Greenfield has been making fiddle sticks to serve at the West Tennessee State Fair and at fairs, carnivals, festivals and company picnics across the Southeast.
The ice cream treats are the first fair food items Pope and her late husband, Jimmy, ever made.
Jane Pope and her son, James Roy Pope, own Pope’s Concessions, which has been in business for 89 years. Her father-in-law, Roy Pope, started the business when he was 14.
“All of my married life, 51 years, I’ve been making those fiddle sticks,” she said of the popular desserts — blocks of ice cream on a stick, dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts.
The West Tennessee State Fair runs from Sept. 11-16 at Jackson Fairgrounds Park.

 

Pope's Concessions, which has been in business for 89 years, will be selling fiddlesticks along with other traditional fair foods such as cotton candy, snow cones, candied apples, funnel cakes, hand-dipped corn dogs, Polish and Italian sausage, Philly cheese steaks, hamburgers and tacos at the West Tennessee State Fair. / Jackson Sun file photo
Pope’s Concessions will be selling fiddle sticks along with other traditional fair foods such as cotton candy, snow cones, candied apples, funnel cakes, hand-dipped corn dogs, Polish and Italian sausage, Philly cheese steaks, hamburgers and tacos.
“You will see lines at our booth, because the food is good!” Pope laughed. “People know us, and they look for the Pope’s sign. We go to other places, and they will come to us and tell us, ‘We’ve been looking for that Pope trailer!’ And this is just about everywhere we go, so I guess our food has got to be good.”
Other regional venues for sales include the Gibson County Fair, the Carroll County Fair and the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival.
read more at:
http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20120905/LIFESTYLE/309050015/Fiddle-sticks-funnel-cakes-Concession-stands-draw-foodies-fair-each-year?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE&nclick_check=1