If Templeton, the greedy, fat rat in ''Charlotte's Web,'' had been roaming the midways at the Trumbull County Fair, he would have been in a state of supreme jubilation similar to what he felt in his wanderings at the county fair in E.B. White's children's classic.
There's just so much food to be eaten - gyros, french fries, hoagies, pizza, chicken wings and the sweet stuff, too, candy and caramel covered apples, shaved ice, ice cream and, of course, elephant ears and funnel cakes covered in powered sugar goodness.
In fact, of the 400-plus vendors at the fair this year, a ''good majority'' are food-related, said Bud Rodgers, fair board director and concession committee member.
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Tribune Chronicle photos / R. Michael Semple
Gabriela Trevino, 17, of Howland, Tuesday evening is crowned Miss Trumbull County Fair 2012 by last year’s queen Elaine Kelley.
They've been arranged along the main and new midways to give fair attendants variety among choices, and the vendors selling similar eats are given enough space, about 80 feet, said Rodgers, ''so they don't have a competitor close to them.''
Space is sold in 10-foot-long spots for $25 a foot, plus utility fees.
Food vendors are inspected by the county health department for cleanliness and to make sure they are meeting food standards; the fire department to make sure they meet the fire code; and by the fair board, to make sure they are running a a fit operation.
''You don't want to see a pitched tent, folding chair and gas grill out there,'' Rodgers said.
Rodgers said the vendors are monitored daily to make sure the vendors are selling what they advertise. In the past, he and Jan Solomon, another fair board director agreed, vendors seeing another making a killing on something other than what they sell, shaved ice for example, have tried to get in on that action by getting and putting that equipment in their trailer.
There also have been grumbles among vendors selling the same food for less, but for the most part, they all seem to co-exist peacefully.
''For as many of them that are out there, we get very few complaints,'' Rodgers said.
Jim Molnar, owner/president of Molnar's Concessions in Austintown, has three trailers at the fair, selling lemon shakes, cinnamon rolls, funnel cakes, and steak and sausage sandwiches and fries.
His business depends on Mother Nature and that day's schedule of events.
''It varies, it depends on the weather, the day, what type of show is here,'' said Molnar, whose company has been selling fairgoers food in Trumbull County for about 30 years.