By Chris Barber
Contributing Writer

The national Mushroom Festival did Kennett Square proud this past weekend, just as it has every year for the last 40 years.

Tens of thousands of visitors showed up at the 40th annual September event, undeterred by periods of rain that minimized attendance somewhat at the start of Sunday morning’s festivities.

Festival co-chairs Gina Puoci and Gale Ferranto took the step of bringing back the old tradition of a kickoff parade this year as a way to welcome in the popular event and honor the area’s largest industry. That effort was cut short, however, by storms that were predicted and arrived at the exact evening hours planned for the procession.

Nonetheless, in a spirit of consolation, the Kennett High School Band put together their online version of “Sweet Caroline” to fill the gap.

When Saturday morning arrived, weather forecasters were announcing warnings of an afternoon arrival of a storm so powerful that it might be accompanied by a tornado. The attraction of the Mushroom Festival was so great, however, that visitors came by the thousands for the start. The crowd remained and the storm never arrived.

The visitors came from all over.

In the crowd, conversations could be heard by people who were talking about arriving from their homes.

“I live in New Jersey,” said one.

“I came from Harrisburg,” said another.

“I took the Blue Route to get here.”

They were well rewarded for their travels.

Several hundred vendors selling a wide variety of items, including many that were hand-made, greeted the visitors: windmills, baby clothes, local honey, dog bandannas and more.

The food was abundant with local restaurants bringing their most popular creations to street stands, while others who came from afar offered lemonade, ice cream and sandwiches. Many people were seen chomping down mushroom treats as early as the opening hour, shortly after 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The Mushroom Festival offered demonstrations, souvenirs, music, children’s activities and, perhaps most importantly, a view of the borough’s small-town charm.

One display that drew many people, and has for years, was the growing tent. Representatives of the local mushroom companies stood beside live beds of the growing crop and explained the process of growing mushrooms to those who watched and asked questions about details.

In the past, the lines at this site had grown so long and time-consuming that Puoci and Ferranto devised the system of two doors to the tent and the removal of non-growing samples. Several of the growers expressed satisfaction with the plan.

“I think the two doors worked,” one said.

Two mushroom-related competitions drew large audiences and plenty of excitement: Cooking and eating.

The culinary contest, called “Chopped” from the television show that spawned the process, involved giving contestants a mystery package of food and asking them to make a winning dish from it. At the Mushroom Festival, the “mystery package” appropriately contains mushrooms and other oddly related foodstuffs.

This year, that contest spanned two semi-finals over two days and was won by college student Alexa Urteaga from New Jersey, who created what she named “lomo saleado.”

The other excitement that grew cheering crowds was the mushroom eating contest on Sunday afternoon.

Thirteen competitors attempted to eat the most fried mushrooms in a brief time frame.

As the minutes ticked down, it was obvious that the so-called “professional eaters” in the back row had the edge over the “amateurs” in the front.

It was won by repeat victor Molly Schuyler, who downed about seven pounds in the contest.

Meanwhile, the audience cheered and was buoyed by the excitement of being visited by the Phillie Phanatic, who spent the better part of the hour delighting the mushroom-eating audience.

There was an enhanced children’s section at the west end of the street that included a Lego demonstration and the familiar jumping tents.

For every block of Kennett’s main street, State Street, there were events and demonstrations heavily represented.

Even South Broad Street took an important role on Saturday as the Marshall Steam Museum of Hockessin played host to of the Stanley Steamers demonstration.

Kennett Consolidated School District Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders greeted visitors and was joined at times by students from her schools who earned service points for their help.

Meanwhile, the living symbol of the festival, “Fun Gus” made his way around the streets hugging kids.

The souvenir stand again sold the annual Mushroom Festival T-shirt, this year designed by artist Joy Sydenstricker,, and members of the Masons service club repeated their years-long sales tradition of offering mushroom soup.

There was also a 50-50 raffle and vote-for items of painted mushrooms and “Cute as a Button” monetary votes for photos of cute kids.

The Mushroom Festival was started four decades ago by a group of local business representatives and has grown dramatically ever since.

Kennett Square is widely known as the Mushroom Capital of the World because the majority of mushrooms grown in the U.S. are grown in the area, and the crop continues to be synonymous with Kennett Square.