New Board President Elected For 25Th Annual Stockton
Asparagus Festival -- 10/9/09
Asparagus Festival Raises Big Money For Local Charities -- 6/17/09
2009 Stockton Asparagus Festival Recap -- 5/1/09
A Message From Our 2009 Board President -- 10/9/08
Celebrating Asparagus, and Providing More Money to Local Charitiess -- 6/20/08
2008 Asparagus Festival Breaks Attendance Records -- 5/9/08
Two Top-Ranked Competitive Eaters Clash For Coveted Asparagus Title -- 4/1/08
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New Board President Elected For 25Th Annual Stockton
Asparagus Festival
Although the 25th annual Stockton Asparagus Festival is not until April 2010, the Festival Board of Directors has already begun planning, with retired National Guard Brigadier General C.P. Riddle of Tracy taking the helm as the new Board president. Riddle assumed leadership duties at the monthly board meeting on August 13.
This is Riddle's second time serving as president, having served in 2001 during the 16th annual Festival when it was still located at Oak Grove Regional Park. This year the Festival celebrates its 25th Anniversary year. "The longevity of this nationally acclaimed event is due in large part to the hard work of thousands of dedicated volunteers from over a hundred local charities," says Riddle. "We also have the partnership with the City of Stockton to thank for our continued success."
Serving with Riddle during this year's planning are Board members: Immediate Past President, Gerald Smith, Financial Advisor, Northwestern Mutual; President-Elect, John Reusche, President, Reusche Homes Construction; John Green, Assistant General Manager at Stockton East Water District; Bob Harmon, Vice President, Farmers & Merchants Bank; Wayne Hose, Retired Chief of Police, SPD; Jim Hulstrom, Vice President, Wells Fargo Bank; Marc Marchini, Chairman, California Asparagus Commission; Steve Moore, San Joaquin County Sheriff; Leslie Snyder, Sales Manager, Delta Sierra Beverage; and Douglass Wilhoit, CEO, Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce.
Despite current economic woes, Stockton Asparagus Festival attendees in 2009 proved once again that giving is in. By consuming 36,000 pounds of asparagus, festival-goers raised $276,507 for 104 local charities whose 5,000 volunteers contributed over 29,000 hours. This brought the total Festival donation to more than $4.7 million since it began in 1986.
Festival dates are April 23-25, 2010, and with continuing improvements to the downtown waterfront, it is anticipated this year's Festival will be better than ever. For more information, contact the Festival office at 644-3740, or visit the website at www.asparagusfest.com.
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Asparagus Festival Raises Big Money For Local Charities
STOCKTON, Calif. – Despite current economic woes, Stockton Asparagus Festival attendees proved once again that giving is in. By consuming 36,000 pounds of asparagus, festival-goers raised $276,507 for 104 local charities, bringing the total Festival donation to more than $4.7 million since it began in 1986.
Volunteers clocked in 29,573 hours over the three-day food fest, earning $9.35 an hour towards their local charity of choice and setting a record-breaking precedent in Festival volunteer hours.
"I am honored to be part of a community that recognizes the importance of charitable giving," said Festival Board President Jerry Smith. "This is the fifth largest donation in the 24-year history of the Festival. In these difficult economic times, the donations mean even more this year."
On-site attendance was approximately 85,000 festival-goers.
Festival organizers are already planning next year's festivities, which are destined to be a big celebration. The event will be held April 23-25, 2010.
"Next year marks our 25th anniversary," said Kate Post, executive director of the Festival. "We have some great surprises planned and new venues for the festival-goers!"
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2009 Stockton Asparagus Festival Recap
Under beautiful sunny skies and moderate temperatures, festival-goers gobbled over 36,000 pounds of asparagus in all forms -- deep-fried, in pasta, burritos and margaritas. The Asparagus Eating Competition crowned a new champion, Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, who swooped in and took the Deep-Fried Asparagus title from its longtime owner Joey Chestnut. Bertoletti won with 7 lbs., 5.81 oz. Chestnut came in second with 7 lbs., 2.81 oz., and Eric Booker took third place with a mere 5 lbs.
The new Sea Lion Encounter entertained packed audiences, Tyson the Skateboarding Bulldog brought laughter and applause, and of course, the Main Stage rocked with Papa Doo Run Run, Mickey Thomas & Starship, and The Tubes.
On-site attendance was approximately 85,000 festival-goers.
"We consider festival attendance strong and steady, we are excited as plans are underway for our Volunteer Celebration," said Kate Post, executive director of the Festival.
The Volunteer Celebration, where local charities will receive the benefit of their combined 28,000 hours contributed, will be held on Wednesday, June 17. Financials will be announced after the total donated amount is unveiled. To date, "The Best of the West Food Fest" has raised more than $4.5 million to local charities.
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A Message From Our 2009 Board President 10/09/2008
The Stockton Asparagus Festival begins its second five year term in downtown Stockton with the 2009 Festival with the purpose of raising funds for charitable organizations. What a great five years it has been but the best is yet to come. The Festival in partnership with the City looks forward to providing one of the most exciting entertainment venues for all during the 2009 Stockton Asparagus Festival. So get the dates on your calendar, April 24-26, 2009, and get your family and friends from near and far ready to have a wonderful time all the while knowing that many worthwhile people and charitable organizations will benefit. On behalf of myself, and our Executive Director, Kate Post we look forward to providing you the best Festival ever.
"The best is yet to come!"
President, Jerry Smith
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Celebrating Asparagus, and Providing More Money to Local Charities -- 06/20/2008
The 2008 Stockton Asparagus Festival completed another record-breaking year, giving more money to local charities than ever before. The festival organization handed out checks to local charities in the amount of $461,912, bringing the total Festival donation to more than $4.5 million since it began in 1986.
Board President and Sheriff Steve Moore unveiled the check, commending the volunteer "spear-it!"
"Volunteers worked a whopping 28,960 hours and received an hourly dividend of $15.95 per hour worked at the Festival," said Moore. "We could not produce an event of this magnitude without their dedication to this event."
Festival Executive Director, Kate Post, noted, "This is the largest charitable food festival in California and beyond. We proudly donated to 102 local charities. This is something our community can truly be proud of and is co-sponsored by the City of Stockton."
Next year will be the 24th Annual Stockton Asparagus Festival to be held at the Downtown Waterfront, April 24-26, 2009.
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2008 Asparagus Festival Breaks Attendance Records -- 05/09/2008
The recently completed 2008 Stockton Asparagus Festival -- the Best of the West Food Fest -- had its best festival ever, with record attendance that reached 110,000 visitors. The three-day, multi-event, food and entertainment festival was held April 25-27 at the Downtown Stockton Waterfront, the fifth year that the Festival was held at this venue.
The nationally acclaimed Festival broke attendance records last year as well when more than 40,000 pounds of world-class, deep-fried asparagus was enjoyed at the Festival. This year, the Festival featured two performing stages, an Asparagus Alley where the deep-fried asparagus was served, amazing celebrity cooking demonstration kitchens, the Michelob Ultra Great Spear-It Run, an Olympic Pole Vault exhibition and high school competition, Tyson the Skateboarding bulldog, an Arts & Craft show, 600 booths, displays and exhibits.
"Our record attendance represents a 16.87% increase in ticket sales, including tickets purchased on-site, comp tickets and e-tickets, which enjoyed a 50% increase in its second year of online ticket sales," noted Kate Post, executive director of the Stockton Asparagus Festival. "The huge attendance bodes well for all of the participating non-profit organizations. Last year we distributed $438,107 to over 100 charities, and this year we should exceed that number."
Over the past 22 years, the Stockton Asparagus Festival was able to distribute over $4 million dollars to local charities. In 2007, over 100 local charities and community organizations logged more than 28,000 volunteer hours. That number should be greater in 2008. This year, the Stockton Asparagus Festival will be handing out the charity donations on June 18 at 5:30 pm at the Sheraton Stockton at Regent Pointe.
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Joey Owns Stockton! -- 4/26/2008
Joey Chestnut spearheaded another exciting tempura fried asparagus eating contest today and won the event by downing 8.8 pounds of the green vegetable.
Pat Bertoletti placed second with 7.14 pounds and Erik the Red took third place with 4.75, edging out Juris "my abs don't lie" Shibiyama by a quarter of a pound.
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TWO TOP-RANKED COMPETITIVE EATERS CLASH FOR COVETED ASPARAGUS TITLE
Chestnut, Bertoletti Battle for Honor and $2,500
An all-star cast of the world's best competitive eaters will gather at the Stockton Asparagus Festival in Stockton, CA on April 26th, 2008, for the World Deep-Fried Asparagus-Eating Championship. The competition will commence at 12:00 pm on the Main Stage at the Weber Point Event Center.
The contest marks an eagerly awaited match-up between the two best competitive eaters on the planet: San Jose's #1-ranked Joey Chestnut, and his archrival / good friend, Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti of Chicago. Both have surpassed Takeru Kobayashi in the rankings, and are 7-7 against each other in their last 12 meetings. In their most recent meeting, on March 2nd in Houston, Chestnut edged out Bertoletti in matzo balls, eating 78 to Bertoletti's 76. Nipping against their heels will be last year's runner-up, 12th-ranked fry bread eating champ, Erik "The Red" Denmark. And an exciting new addition to this year's lineup is 23rd-ranked Juris "Dr. BigTime" Shibayama, a spine surgeon, body builder, and rising star on the circuit.
The event will feature delicious, thick deep-fried spears of locally grown asparagus. The winner will take home a cash prize of $1,500 and the beautiful champion's trophy. Second place will receive $500 and third will leave with $250.
"The Stockton Asparagus Festival is elated to once again host the world's greatest eaters," said Kate Post, executive director of the Stockton Asparagus Festival. "The eating contest is a fan favorite here, and we look forward to a dramatic battle between the two best eaters out there."
The Stockton Asparagus Festival, called the Best of the West Food Fest by Sunset magazine, is a three-day, multi-event, food and entertainment festival that celebrates asparagus. The festival, held April 25-27, features three performance stages, an Asparagus Alley with delicious deep-fried asparagus, a celebrity chef cooking demonstration kitchen, a fabulous Spear-Its of the Valley wine and beer pavilion, and exhibits by more than hundreds of food purveyors and 100 specialty merchandise vendors. The festival is the largest charitable special event in San Joaquin County. Over 5,000 volunteers representing over 100 non-profit organizations work to make it a huge success. To date over $4 million has been donated to local charities. www.asparagusfest.com.
Major League Eating (MLE), the governing body of all stomach-centric sports, conducts more than 80 events annually, including the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, NY. The competitive eating community, which numbers more than 6,000 veteran and rookie athletes, travels the nation in search of top titles and the glory that they provide.
Event Info:
The World Deep Fried Asparagus-Eating Championship
Stockton Asparagus Festival, Saturday, April 26, at 12:00 pm.
Main Stage, Weber Point Event Center, Downtown Stockton, CA
Festival Admission: $10 adults; $5 teens 11-17 and seniors; under 10 free.
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