This past week was a truck-load of fun! We made our way from Birmingham, AL to Parsons, TN! We stopped at Prater’s Taters, a local restaurant where they serve Idaho Potatoes over 30 different ways! The restaurant is family-owned and has become a local hot spot in the town. When we rolled up, a local radio station, 101.3 WOPC, and fans were already there to greet us! The first person we got to meet was Charles, a chamber of commerce member, who had requested us to come to Parsons over one year ago! He told us that having the Big Idaho Potato Truck come to town was the biggest event they’ve had in years. At our table, we did potato-decorating and also had a signature board for Carl Perkins. Carl Perkins Center For The Prevention of Child Abuse is based in Jackson, TN and combines trained staff and volunteers to provide a variety of services including community education, forever parents program, therapy, and more. We got to meet one of their representatives named Clay who spoke about just how much this charity impacts the community. We were so happy to support a wonderful cause and received over 500 signatures on our board during the event! The local news station, WBBJ Channel 7 News in Jackson, also covered the event as well. Click here to watch our news clip. The Prater’s were wonderful hosts and we can’t thank them enough for letting us stop! The Idaho Potatoes were delicious and the Tater Team definitely approved!
After filling up on taters in Parsons, we headed to Louisville, KY for the Kentucky Derby Festival! The first event we attended was the Pegasus Marathon and Mini-Marathon Race Expo and Packet Pick-Up event! The Pegasus Marathon runs through downtown Louisville and along the Ohio river. It attracts over 12,000 runners from all over America every year! If we return I might just have to run it next time (I’ve ran the City of Trees half-marathon in Boise). We parked our 28-foot-long Idaho Potato inside the Kentucky Exposition Center for the two day long event. Runners came to the expo to pick up their packet and information before the race. At the event, there were booths from local businesses and merchandise vendors. We gave away free Big Idaho Potato water bottles to competitors at our table and other potato swag. We also talked with runners and encouraged them to fuel up with Idaho Potatoes before the race! Runner’s World came out with an article stating that potatoes are the “perfect carb” and we loved sharing this information with people at the expo. Click here to read the article.
The next event we attended was YMCA Healthy Kids Day at Louisville Waterfront Park. We have been to the park a few times when we’ve came for Thunder over Louisville in years past! We parked our spud along the Ohio River which made for scenic photos! At the event, there were many activities to keep the kids moving! There was an obstacle course from Mighty Titans, games, fair rides, helicopter tours, entertainment, and more! We did fun activities including potato sack races and potato hole bean bag toss. The kids had a blast and asked a lot of questions about our giant potato!
The Tater Team also had some fun as well! Thanks to Stratus Helicopter Tours, we received a FREE helicopter ride over the city and Ohio River! Stratus Helicopters is based in Cincinnati, Ohio and offers a variety of services including aerial skyline tours, aerial photography, birthday parties, weddings, search and rescue, and more. Click here to learn more. We had an absolute blast and will be coming out with a cool video from our adventure soon!
Next week we will be participating in more Kentucky Derby Festival Events AND attending the Kentucky Derby! It’s definitely been on my bucket list and we will be accompanied by the folks from the Idaho Potato Drop and Idaho Potato Commissioner Tommy Brown from Lamb Weston! I can’t wait!
Until next time Potato Peeps!
-Kaylee
