Pea Shellers
Shine at PurpleHull Pea Festival
Patsy Baker of Emerson took home the 2002 World Cup PurpleHull Pea
Shelling Crown at the Emerson PurpleHull Pea Festival June 29.
Baker shelled 32 ounces in 10 minutes to take top honors.
Second place was Julia Easter of Emerson, while placing third was Glenora
Spradling of Hope, Arkansas. Both
Easter and Spradling shelled 27 ounces of peas in 10 minutes in the initial
rounds, necessitating a "shell-off," for second place, which was won
by Easter.
For their efforts, Baker won a garden fountain, Easter received a $50
certificate and Spradling took home an insulated camouflage camping bag.
Twenty-two competitors vied for the title.
In the Youth Division of the World Cup PurpleHull Pea Shelling
Competition, Clay Gryder, 14, of Haynesville won the event, shelling 19 ounces
of purplehull peas in 10 minutes. Second
place was Sonny Harrison, 10, of New Albany, Mississippi, who shelled 10 ounces;
third place was Michael Henderson, 10, of Emerson, who shelled 6 ounces.
Each of the top three competitors took home a trophy, a PurpleHull Pea
Festival “Pea-Shirt,” and other gifts.
The World Cup PurpleHull Pea Shelling Competition is held each year on
the last Saturday in June at the Emerson, Arkansas PurpleHull Pea Festival, and
is sponsored by Lake Sue Nursery & Farm Supply in Magnolia.
More information is available on the festival’s Web site,
www.purplehull.com, or phone (870) 547-2707.
- 30 -