EATON — Last weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17 and 18, Preble County hosted the annual Pork Festival, bringing in craft shoppers and pork lovers from around the state and country.
Despite not knowing if the festival would take place this year and an earlier cancellation, it turned out to be a huge success for its 51st year, according to organizers.
With lots of help spreading the word of the festival’s return, vendors arrived for a weekend of fun and prosperity. Malia Rambo-Stump, small business owner of His & Her Creations, said she is not a resident of the county but came over from Montgomery County for the festival.
“I’ve always known about the Pork Festival because — I mean, who doesn’t? And, if they don’t, do they even live in Ohio?”
Stump explained how the weekend went for her business. “This is our first year here so we were really excited. We’re glad to be here. We’re definitely coming back.”
The festival gave many vendors the opportunity to spread the word about their businesses and make connections with the public to grow their dream.
Another small business owner, Sharon Martinez owner of Fancies Crystals and Creations, spoke about how the festival went for her business and echoed a similar experience. “We went through like 1,000 business cards,” she said.
The success of the festival had a lot to do with coordinators Megan Griffis and husband, Robert, owners of RMJG Events.
Megan Griffis spoke about the success of the festival.
“It was wonderful to see so many people out and about,” she said. “We had a lot of out-of-town folks come in as well as the local community. So, we think it was a really great weekend. Our midway was packed most of the time, both days.”
To kick off the event, the festival sponsored the annual parade to celebrate. “We had about 80 participants and we had five bands,” Megan said. “And a lot of the floats and parades had pig themes to it. It really embraced ‘for the love of the festival’ which was our theme this year.”
Griffis also spoke about how the pig races — a festival favorite — went this year. Even with a new vendor operating the races it was still a success, she said. “Everyone seemed to have a really good time and it was for adults and kids alike.”
Robert Griffis voiced his appreciation the festival was not canceled this year. “It’s something that is such a long-standing tradition,” he said “You just don’t want to see it go away. You want to see it continue on the next 50 years.”
Megan piggy-backed off Robert and explained the festival went through a lot of changes this year. “Change is always good. It brings fresh perspective and you know sometimes just organically that happens,” she said. “And in this case, you know, after 51 years, there’s a lot of tradition. But, again, you’re going through a generational shift where there’s also change and fresh eyes. It’s something to reinvigorate and really make it something new but keeping with the old tradition.”
Megan and Robert Griffis thank the county for the success.
“Thanks to every single person that came, every single person that helped us promote, every single company that sponsored,” Megan said. “The volunteers, and the community in general.”
