Festival Food Fix helping fill the gap for the Cridersville Fire Department

The 2020 Cridersville Jamboree in its traditional July format had to be cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, but this weekend’s “Festival Food Fix” is helping fill the gap.

Kicking off at 4 p.m. Friday, festival-goers as far away as New Hampshire and Lima were already approaching vendors for some festival food.

Firefighter and vendor Jeff Reichelderfer said vendors approached the department about helping each other out.

“Hopefully we get a good crowd in this weekend,” he said.

Reichelderfer wasn’t confident they could make the roughly $20,000 the Jamboree normally would bring in for the department but he was appreciative of the effort.

“Every little bit counts. We are trying to help the fire department out we are also trying to help food vendors out too,” he said.

At Reichelderfer’s ice cream truck, milk shakes go the fastest — but this year it has been a matter of finding a parking lot or an event where he could set up. He said things were OK but not like being able to see at the area festivals.

“It hasn’t been too bad because we’ve had some followers,” he said, adding he learned not to get his

expectations high and to simply make the best of every opportunity.

Vendor Deb Poeppleman said the summer was challenging and different — but it was a lot better then she thought it was going to be after working with the fire department and St. Joe’s Festival.

She was optimistic about this weekend. “The weather is going to be good,” Poeppleman said.

She said followers have been extremely gracious. Her son, Jeff Poeppleman agreed. “They have thanked us up and down this entire year through these challenging times; they even asked us where we would go next so we created a Facebook page for them to follow us,” he said.

There were people ready to eat when the vendors opened Friday

afternoon.

“We always like to eat our way through the fair,” said Sue Ann Graff of Lima who stopped out early at Poeppleman’s stand. She and Jacob Martin of New Hampshire both came to get their fair food fix.

Food stands are open today until 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 11a.m. to 6 p.m.

Jacob Martin and Sue Ann Graff order at Poeppelman's Concessions Friday at Cridersville's Festival Food Fix event, which runs through Sunday.

Firefighters Matthew Green, Glen Hensley and Jeff Reichelderfer appreciate the support for the Festival Food Fix, which helps the Cridersville Fire Department.