Enfield goes nuts over signature crop

Katy Nicholson/Herald Staff Writer

ENFIELD - The sky was a bit cloudy, but organizers of the fourth annual Enfield Peanut Festival were optimistic that the weather would hold out for the event Saturday.

The crowd began to grow in the late morning, as more people browsed the vendors' booths and listened to the music of the First Baptist Church Male Chorus.

“I think this year so far is looking really great,” said Enfield Mayor Warnie Bishop. “As long as the rain can hold off, it's going to be fantastic.”

Other entertainment for the day included The Sensational Nightingales gospel group, dancing by the Ivory Hill Steppers, country music by Southern Draw and jazz by The Staircase Band.

The festival attracted about 60 vendors, said festival Finance Officer Angela Barner, and while each vendor was encouraged to bring along some peanut-related items, merchandise ranged from jewelry and face-painting to funnel cakes, hot dogs and Italian ice.

“We have a lot of ones that come back year after year, but we have a lot that are new and this is their first year,” Barner said.

Columbus Pittman of Enfield smiled as people stopped to watch him check on his smoked turkey legs, which he said took about two hours to slow-cook. It was Pittman's first time selling the turkey legs at an event, and he got the idea after seeing how popular they were at the State Fair.

“I'd seen it done there and I'd never seen it done here, so hopefully they do well,” he said.

The festival actually began on Friday evening with a barbecue cook-off and plate sale and a concert by The Wallers, who performed Oldies and Motown music. Calvin Pittman, Ed Atkinson and Freeman Reynolds came in first, second and third places in the cook-off, respectively. Festival Co-chair Bobby Davis estimated about 1,500 people attended Friday's activities, and expected a larger crowd later on Saturday. The Peanut Festival often has been accompanied by clouds and rain, but Bishop said close to 5,000 people attended last year's festival despite the rain.

Willie Robbins of Scotland Neck, who retired in 2002 as sergeant major of the Enfield Police Department, said he tries to attend the Peanut Festival every year.

“There are a lot of people I love to come see who I used to see every day,” he explained.

Sherree Shields, who is from Enfield but now lives in Rocky Mount, attended the event with her husband, Joseph, and children Taniqua, 9, and Tyreke, 6. Shields said she'd attended the event “years ago,” and thought it would be a good opportunity for her family to visit her hometown. Taniqua said she was looking forward to “having fun,” while Tyreke said he'd enjoyed walking over the train tracks to get to the festival.

The first Cotton and Peanut Festival was sponsored by the Enfield Lions Club in 1937. The festival was replaced by the Goober Bowl football game from 1948 to 1953.

In 1987, the Peanut Festival was resurrected, sponsored by groups including the Enfield Lions Club, Enfield Promoters and Halifax Electric Corp. After a brief absence, the festival was brought back once more by the town of Enfield in 2004.

Enfield was once considered the peanut capital of the world.

The town is home to Aunt Ruby's Peanuts, which distributes the crop nationally. While organizers were happy to see some travelers who came in from Interstate 95, the main focus of the event is to bring the community together.

“We try to have the festival to bring the people of the peanut capital, not only Enfield but Halifax County to kind of break away from some of the day-to-day routines and let their hair hang out and do whatever they want to do,” Davis said.