The Gaffney Ledger du lieu suivant : Gaffney, South Carolina • Page 44

PAGE 30 History THE GAFFNEY LEDGER S.C. PEACH FESTIVAL 2012 WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2012 Continued from Page 3 to the area at the same time," said Compton, noting 43 companies visited Cherokee County in 1976. "We discussed the fact that it was our belief that due to Sunny Slope Farms, Cash Farms, and other peach growers within our area that this might be a great thing to look into." The Peach Festival made an immediate splash in its first year in 1978 with the baking of the world's largest edible peach pie. The pie was 25 feet in diameter and 3-feet deep. Ingredients donated included 20,000 peaches from Cherokee County peach growers, 10,000 pounds of sugar from Dixie Crystals.

5,000 pounds of flour from Southern Biscuit, and 1,800 pounds of Crisco donated by Proctor and Gamble. Peeler's Dairy gave 3,334 pounds of milk to help make the world's largest peach pie. The crust for this tremendous undertaking was made by the Gaffney Bakery. A number of companies donated materials and thousands of volunteers provided labor so the peach pie could become a Welcome to the S.C. Peach Festival BROWN PACKING 227 Boyd St.

Gaffney, SC reality. For $1.50, you could watch the pie being baked on property across Highway 29 from Sunny Slope Peach Shed. Buttons were handed out signifying you ate a piece of the pie listed in the Guiness Book of World Records. Volunteers used the same pie pan two years later and churned 55,000 pounds of ingredients for the world's largest peach milk shake. With a new interior coating, some copper tubing and a cooling unit, the pan became a milkshake cup holding the peaches, sugar and milk to create the shake.

Servings of the peach milkshake were scheduled for July 17, 1980. This never took place when health officials determined issues with keeping the milkshake mixture cool enough made it unsafe for people to drink the milkshake. A film crew was busy shooting "Carnival Magic" at the carnival behind Colonial Restaurant during the 1980 festival. The movie was made at the Earl Owensby studios in Shelby. The movie production company filmed the Peach Festival parade as well as a sec- Enjoy the S.C.

Peach Festival! FOSTER FUNERAL HOME. SINCE 1919 "Your loved ones deserve the best." RUFUS H. FOSTER 312 N. Petty St. Gaffney 864-489-2422 Enjoy the S.C.

Peach Festivall Then Come by and Visit Us, We Have A Peachy Job Waiting for StaffMasters Our people mean business. 100 Willis Plaza, Suite 100 Gaffney, SC ond parade in a two block section of downtown Gaffney, according to a 1980 article by Gaffney Ledger staff writer Bobbie Oglesby. The movie starred Don Stewart, better known as Mike Bauer from "The Guiding Light" soap opera. Cast members included Jennifer Houton, formerly Greta Powers "The Doctors" and Joe Cirillo, co-star of the television detective series. Stewart rode in the Peach Festival's parade.

The second parade featured a circus team of 11 tigers, four elephants and several other units. County residents were invited to line Limestone Street from Birnie Street to Railroad Avenue for the filming of the parade scenes. Local faces were a part of the many crowd scenes. Gaffney native Harold Mathis allowed the cast and crew to use his house as headquarters and dressing rooms while they commuted from Shelby for filming. Mathis said the experience had not really affected him much.

"I believe Jimmy Carter could walk in here right now and it wouldn't phase me, but this has been something different and I've enjoyed it," Mathis stated in the 1980 Ledger article. The festival attempted the world's largest peach shortcake the following year. Organizers were more successful in bringing nationally known music entertainment acts and finding unique ways to draw attention towards the Peach Festival. The Gaffney Board of Public Works held a dedication ceremony in 1981 for the one million gallon Peachoid water tank which overlooks I-85. The International Water Follies were presented at East Junior High (now known as Ewing Middle.) The colorful show featured precision swimming, diving, comedy routines and music.

Mary Dwight and 10 members of a water ballet performed in the world's largest portable pools and stage to present the water follies show. Diving and swimming performers on included Dick Gutting, acrobatic diving champion; Bryand Roberts, Midwest diving champion; Aaron Stuart, West Coast diving champion; and Roger Nadeau, a forc mer New England diving champion and an accomplished comic on the high board. As a climax to the comedy swimming routine, Nadeau swam the length of a 75- foot pool at an unbelievable speed. He sailed through the water for only a few seconds, sending waves to the sides like a fast-moving boat. A world record was set in 1989 for the largest number of guitars playing and vocalists singing one song "Louie! Louie." The event was recorded by the Guinness Records television program.

The Peach Festival parade in 1989 featured a 45-foot Popeye, bag pipes and a trolley. A single trolley line was used in Gaffney to haul stone and limestone from the quarry to the railroad until a flood in 1916, according to local historian and attorney Joe Hall. One of the trolley engines was sold and the line folded. "On Sunday they would run a small passenger coach so girls could go to church uptown," Hall said in a July 21, 1989, article in The Gaffney Ledger. After a 73 year absence from Gaffney, the streets clanged with the sounds of "Dolly the Trolley" gliding on rubber wheels along the parade route.

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