TRENTON – It was a peach of a good time in Trenton last weekend!

For the past several years, organizers of the Ridge Peach Festival have leaned back in their chairs once the event was over and proclaimed it, “the best festival ever.”

The 2010 Festival, commemorating 40 years of celebrating the peach industry which has made the town famous, was no different.

“It was awesome!” declared Chairperson Melody Boylston. “In spite of the heat, I believe it was the largest crowd yet. The last three years, it has really grown. The crowds came early and they stayed throughout the day. I think it was due, in part, to the fact that we’ve advertised more. Channel 6 has been with us for the past two years and they’ve really promoted it.”

Boylston said someone was there from Germany.

“Obviously, we didn’t advertise in Germany. They were visiting someone,” she said. “But we had people come from far and near. A lot of people come back home just to go to the Peach Festival.”
Boylston, who has worked with the festival for four years and has chaired it for the past two years, said she is always so humbled by the size of the crowd.

“You never know,” she said. “We plan and plan but you don’t know until the end how it will turn out.”
All areas of the festival went well, she said.

The parade, interrupted briefly by a freight train which passed right through the middle, was alive with politicians, bands, floats, motorcycles, horses, beauty queens, antique cars and tractors, clowns and fire trucks.

“I’d like to pay tribute to Barbara (Whitlock), our parade chairperson and president of the Trenton Community Development Association, who sponsors the festival,” said Boylston. “She will be moving to Texas to be with her son. She does such a wonderful job. She has worked with the festival in some capacity all these years. She puts her heart and soul into the Development Association and will be greatly missed.”

Boylston said Dr. and Mrs. Watson loved being the grand marshals.

“They come to every festival. They were real tickled to be honored in this way,” she said. Dr. Watson, a Trenton native, recently turned 100.

Sales in the Country Store, were steady throughout most of the day, said Helen Carpenter, who paused for a moment among the homemade jams, preserves and peach cobbler.
A handful of “Red Hat Ladies” gathered around one of the concession stands under a large shade tree. They were there from Clinton.

“We looked up ‘festivals’ on the Internet,” said Robbie South of the Red Hattin’ Southern Belles. “We were looking for fun things to do for June. So here we are.”

Beverly Lipscomb, who headed the concessions, said the peach ice cream (which, by the way, is not homemade) was a popular item.

“We went through over 2,000 cups of ice cream,” she said.

Margaret Mock of Aiken said she and her husband missed the parade because they thought it was the Ridge Spring Festival and they went to Ridge Spring.

“We’ve been to the Peach Festival before, but it was a long time ago,” she said. “I like it. The heat is almost unbearable, but there are nice shade trees. The ice cream is good.”
Shuttles took people who had to park a long way off back and forth to the festival area.

“It’s been an excellent day,” said Dana Courtney, a vendor with Six Penny Snacks of Pageland. “We were here last year and we enjoyed it so we came back.”

Boylston said many of the vendors expressed how friendly the people were.

“They said everyone welcomed them and made them feel at home,” she said. “That says a lot about the county.”

Entertainment chairperson Cassy Robinson said everyone did a great job.

Shaquana Miles, 15-year-old Strom Thurmond High School student, was awarded first place in the Ridge Peach Idol Contest and 20-year-old Jeremy Weaver won second place.

“All in all, we’re real pleased,” said Boylston. “All of the proceeds benefit the community in some way. Some go toward the beautification of the Town, some to support events and activities of the Town, including things for our senior citizens.”

She paused, then added, “I just want to thank everyone who had a hand in it. There were so many people, as always who worked behind the scenes. We had more corporate sponsors this year. To all these people, I say thank you. When the festival was over and we were cleaning up, I just breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, ‘Thank you, Lord.’ I give Him the credit for everything working so smoothly.”