Week 39 - The Dumplin’ Festival

Community Festivals are an ever-present fixture in East Kentucky communities. From the Chicken Festival in London, and Black Gold in Hazard to Hillbilly Days in Pikeville, every town, big or small, seems to find the time and the funding to organize something special for their citizens and Black Grass was no different. The Dumplin’ Festival began in the early 70s as a cooking contest fundraiser for the local fire department to buy a new engine that grew into a multi-day event with live music, fireworks, a parade, and a beauty contest. Ms. Peril County had been affectionately known as the “Dumplin’ Darlin’” for decades. And since a substantial scholarship came with the crown, it was still hotly contested. 

Grayson Hughes’ mother was the first “Dumplin Darlin’” many years ago and still sits on the committee that puts the whole festival together every year. He grew up watching her work on the event for the community and seeing how much effort went into creating a fun experience for everyone. Maybe that is why the Dumplin’ Festival has always been one of his favorite times of the year. 

As a teen, he remembered visiting the traveling carnival that would pass through during this time of year. He and his friends would ride the Gravitron and the Octopus until they almost puked. The greasy funnel cakes and over-sugared lemonade didn’t help in that regard, either. 

One of the first dates he and his wife had all those years ago was going to the Dumplin’ Festival together. She was sixteen and he was just two years older. They walked down Main St. and held hands, listening to a KISS cover band sing “Beth” while kids were throwing darts and softball at targets, trying their best to win cheap prizes. Their first kiss was on the top of the Farris Wheel, looking down at the little town of Black Grass below. After, they shared a strawberry shaved ice and watched the fireworks from the swings in the park. Jeanie’s face sparkled in the red and purple glow of the colorful explosions above. Grayson thought it was the best day of his life. 

Today, Grayson watched as Jacob, Laura and Terry darted down the main strip of the festival, trying to check out every booth and exhibit as quickly as possible, as if they were about to vanish at any moment. “Hang on guys, we got all day,” he told them.

“I wanna go to the petting zoo and get a fish dinner and eat a fried candy bar and get a goldfish and get my face painted,” Laura said, clearly overstimulated. 

Her dad nodded and looked over to Terry, his oldest. “What about you, pal?”

“There’s a blacksmith at the other end of the street. Some kids from school were talking about it. He gives you a nail.” Terry’s voice was full of wonder.

Grayson couldn’t help but smile. “You know bud, I got like a hundred nails in a bag at home. I’ll give you as many and you want.”

Terry gave a playful, exasperated look. “Yeah, but you didn’t make those nails, didja dad.”

“No, I guess I didn’t. What about you, big guy? What are you wanting to do today?” he asked, looking over to his youngest, Jacob. 

The four-year-old scanned the area, thoughtfully. He suddenly became transfixed by a blinking neon booth to his side. “I wah throw da balls!” he yelled, seeing a gaming booth for tossing balls at bowling pins. 

Grayson picked up his son and pointed at the booth. “That over there? You wanna throw the balls? What if I throw you at the balls?” he joked and pretended to toss his son in the air while the boy giggled with joy. 

The four spent the next few hours exploring the fair, playing games, talking to friends and neighbors and enjoying each other. Jacob couldn’t quite master knocking over the bowling pins, but his dad was able to win him a rather large pink teddy bear. Laura found out that she was strangely allergic to alpaca fur, which is, apparently, impossible.  And Terry was thrilled to get a nail fresh from the anvil. 

Late in the afternoon, the festival committee had scheduled a magician to perform on the music stage. Lauren and Terry marched up to the front of the bleachers, each holding one of Jacob’s hands. The youngest was not sure about this, but he went along with his siblings. Grayson was standing behind the back row of bleachers when he felt a hand playfully slap his butt. 

“You lookin’ for a good time, stranger?” It was Jeanie, his wife. 

“Depends. What’s it gonna cost me?” he replied, playfully. 

She looked him up and down, seductively. “Good lookin’ cowboy like you. Might be inclined to give you a freebie.” 

“Well, I might just be inclined to take you up on it,” he said as he bent down and kissed her sweetly. It had been a rough couple of months for the couple. He had confronted her about seeing another man and she confessed immediately. Lots of tears, sleepless nights and some marriage counseling followed. But, their love for each other and their desire to keep the family together was more important than anything else to either of them, so they were working on it. 

Ray the Magnificent appeared on stage with a flash of smoke and proceeded to wow the crowd for the better part of the next hour, mixing decent magic with corny jokes. The kids in the audience cheered his every trick. After the show, Terry and Lauren walked back to find their parents, arm in arm, watching a Bluegrass band load onto the stage.

“Where’s Jacob?” Grayson asked.

“He came back here to find you guys like twenty minutes ago,” Terry said. “Isn’t he with you?”

“Jacob!” the worried father yelled out into the crowd. 

Jeanie scanned the street, straining to find her youngest child. “Jacob! Honey? Come to mommy!” 

“Lauren, Terry, walk around and see if you see him. Check by the softball game and the goldfish. But stay together. If you find him, come back here.” Grayson was trying to hide the panic he was feeling. 

“Jacob!” Jeanie yelled again.

Deputy McElroy jogged over from the corner. “You folks ok?” he asked. 

“Our youngest has wandered off,” Jeanie said, the fear welling in her voice. 

Grayson scrambled up on the bleachers, trying to find a better view of Main St. “Jacob! Buddy!” 

Deputy McElroy clicked the transmitter on his shirt. “Dispatch, be advised we have a missing child, age, how old is he?” he asked, turning to Jeanie.

“He’s four. Named Jacob. What was he wearing, Grayson?” She was starting to panic. 

It took him a moment to remember. “Kentucky sweatshirt. Cammo pants.”

“Dispatch, we have a missing child. Four year old male name Jacob Hughes. Last seen on Main St. at the festival wearing a Kentucky sweatshirt and green camouflage pants. Please put all units in the area on notice.” He let go of the switch on this transmitter and walked to stand between Jeanie and Grayson. “Folks, let’s stay calm. He’s probably just lookin’ at a toy booth or somethin’.”

Grayson hopped down from the bleachers. “There’s some inflatables up by the hardware store he liked. I’ll run up there and check. Sweetie, stay here in case he comes back.” She nodded as he jogged off down the street. He ran past booths selling light-up swords and used DVD’s. He scanned the crowd, desperate to find his youngest son. Across from Denton’s Hardware, the Festival Committee has arranged for some free inflatable games to be set up for the smaller kids. “Jacob!” he yelled into the crowd. Dozens of eyes looked at him, but no response came. 

He circled the blow-up games where several kids were bouncing and sliding but so no sign of his son. “Maybe the other side of town,” he thought, grasping at any sense of hope. He met Terry and Lauren at the far end of the festival, in front of the goldfish booth. “Find him?” he asked, out of breath.

Terry shook his head. “Where could he be, Daddy?” he asked, clearly afraid of what was happening. 

“I don’t know buddy. Let’s go find your mom. Maybe he’s with her.” 

The three made their way through the crowd, straining to check every corner for Jacob. Deputy McElroy was still standing with Jeanie behind the bleachers. A beam of hope shot across her face when she saw her family coming, but when she saw that Jacob was not with them, her body sank with despair. 

“We’ve got checkpoints going at both exits of the festival, checking every vehicle,” the deputy told Grayson when he stopped. “We’ll find him.” 

“Daddy!” a small voice yelled from nearby.

Grayson looked up to see Jacob walking hand in hand with a teenage girl wearing a green evening gown, pink tiara, and a sash that read “Dumplin’ Darlin’” in green and black letters. He recognized Adeline Wells escorting his son in their direction. 

“Look mama, a real pwincess!” the small boy called as he got closer to his family. His mother scooped him up into her arms and held him close to her face as tight as she could. “She got a real crown,” he continued.

Grayson walked a little closer to the teen girl. “Thank you, Adeline. Where was he?”

“Up on the back street. We’re lining up for the parade and he was looking at the floats and fire trucks. It took him a minute to realize he was alone, but I think he remembered me from babysitting him a few times last year, so he was just scared for a second. He saw the crown and said I looked like a princess.” 

Grayson let himself smile and let out a sigh of relief. “Well, I can’t thank you enough.”

Adeline feigned a self-important pose. “Well, as the official Dumplin’ Darlin’, I am required to uphold the principles and ideals of Peril County. How could I not offer aid to one in need?” 

Jeanie handed Jacob off to her husband and quickly wrapped her arms around Adeline’s neck. Grayson could see the teen’s eyes grow wide with surprise but then a look of acceptance came across her face as she hugged the worried mother back. “Thank you for findin’ my baby, sweet girl.” 

“You’re welcome, Ms. Jeanie,” she said, patting her on the back. 

Deputy McElroy clicked the switch on his transmitter. “Attention dispatch. Missing child found and returned to his family safe and sound. Repeat. Missing child returned safe and sound. All clear.”

A few minutes later, the Hughes family watched as Adeline led the parade in the back of a red pickup, sitting in an antique rocking chair, tossing suckers and bubble gum to the children who lined Main Street. Her Dumplin’ Court, eight girls in total, rode in individual cars and trucks behind her, each tossing out more candy to the kids. Fire trucks covered with kids from the grade school football teams and cheerleading squads followed, tossing even more cheap confections. Classic cars and trucks were next; hot rods, rat rods, ATV’s and side by sides all decked out with lights and accessories. Finally, the floats came, various classrooms and senior citizen centers, businesses and charities had all put in entries this year on the theme “My Old Kentucky Home.” Grayson pointed out the working chimney on the little log cabin the hospital had on their float to Jacob as it past. 

Once the parade had ended, the sun was just starting to set. Grayson popped over to one of the concession stands and got everyone a fish dinner and a corn dog for Jacob. They walked down to the park and ate at the picnic shelter. As the last rays of the sun left the horizon, the five of them made their way to the swings on the far side of the playground. Terry and Lauren took turns pushing little Jacob while Jeanie rested her head against her husbands shoulder. The red and purple blasts of the fireworks illuminated her face just as they had done twenty years before. 

Grayson watched his children playing and leaned in and kissed the top of his wife’s head. It wasn’t a perfect day. But he had to admit, it had ended up being a pretty great one.