The fifth annual Stinkfest was an overwhelming success Saturday
in East Bradford with a little more than 6,000 people said to be in
attendance.

East Bradford Business Association president Mike Smith said
Sunday there were so many people that four of the people counting
for attendance couldn’t get through the crowd so they had to
estimate a count by marking off a cubed area.

“It was much larger than we had last year,” Smith said.

“It was raining when they were setting up for the outhouse
races,” Kathy Colman, organizer for the Stinkfest, said. “We were
fearing snow. The vendors were sitting around with blankets on. But
it was a huge success once the sun came out. There were so many
people in one area.”

The summer celebration of leeks included the popular outhouse
race, first-ever Stinkfest wedding, leek dip contest, the Lil’
Stinker contest and other attractions such as Kiddy Land.

Smith said there were quite a few businesses that participated
in this year’s outhouse race, and “only two or three small
ones.”

The fourth annual race was won by Togi’s Sub Station’s “Togi’s
TNT” outhouse.

“I think it came down to a 100th of a second,” Colman said. “It
was that close.”

Colman said the Canadian team with their “Doodee Free” outhouse
were set to compete in the race but couldn’t participate due to
their outhouse being “all wrecked up.”

Smith said Zippo’s outhouse was actually a “great big
toilet.”

“It was hysterical,” Smith said. “They (the sales people of
Zippo) actually gave us an idea for next year that we should take
pictures of the outhouses for money that will go to the SPCA.”

The outhouse races were sponsored by Cool 100 Radio/HERO
Radio.

Dawn Dominy and Jarrod Vobornik got married during the first
Stinkfest wedding at noon at the gazebo with the Rev. Robert Brest
officiating.

“We were actually concerned for a little bit because the groom
was five minutes late,” Colman said. “I guess he got cold feet at
the last minute. But it actually went off really well. There were
people with tears in their eyes.”

“It was huge, gigantic for a wedding,” Smith said. “In excess of
1,000 people were there. It was a beautiful ceremony.”

The couple’s clothes, cake, flowers and hotel room for the
wedding night were all provided as part of the contest.

All sorts of leek cuisine and other non-leek food was available
at the Stinkfest with more than 50 vendors participating, according
to Smith. With such a large crowd at the Stinkfest, the vendors
were in over their heads.

“The vendors were not prepared for such a huge crowd,” Colman
said. “A lot of them ran out of food early.”

The Stinkfest was the first year for vendors such as Wurst Haus,
which served German food, and all the vendors seemed to find
success.

“All the food vendors either sold out or almost sold out,” Smith
said. “The Corner Bar sold hundreds of their famous mushrooms.
There was this German thing there that was a very, very late entry,
like number 50 or around there. And she was nervous of being there,
but she said she made double in one day than she made in three days
in Franklinville.”

Matt Prentiss was this year’s winner in the leek dip contest,
which was judged by people’s choice, and Gage O’Connell and Katelyn
Clark in the age category 6 to 10 years and Brandon Hallock and
MacKenzie Swanson in the age category 2 to 5 years were crowned the
Lil’ Stinker contest winners out of the 32 contestants
participating this year.

Kiddy Land in the East Main Street parking lot featured numerous
rides for not only children but teenagers and adults.

“It was a tremendous success,” Smith said. “Well-received,
well-run, well-participated.”

Ticket sales from Kiddy Land benefit the local Big Brothers, Big
Sisters program.

Live entertainment was provided by the Church Street Blues Band,
featuring Warren man Scott Pearson.

“We were very pleased with them this year,” Colman said.

Smith said there was also a handicapped-accessible drop-off
point at Cantwell Johnson at the corner of East Main Street and
South Kendall Avenue.

“There was a bench given to us by the Senior Citizens Center to
take care of the handicap and elderly,” Smith said. “People could
pull up with a handicap vehicle, drop off handicapped or elderly
people, go park it and come back and take care of them. It was a
tremendous success. I saw about 18 motorized wheelchairs … there at
one point. It made the thing accessible to the handicapped.”