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APRIL Mangum Rattlesnake Derby


Adventurous foodies should be sure and attend the Mangum Rattlesnake Derby, where snake meat is on the menu. The festival, which celebrated 50 years in 2015, attracts more than 30,000 people for a carnival, fl ea mar- ket, a rattlesnake pit, and many other family-friendly activities.


Glynadee Edwards coordinates the festival’s fl ea market, but she used to cook the snake.


“I’m a second-generation snake-fry-


er,” says Edwards, a Harmon Electric Association member. “The festival started when I was in high school. My mother’s farmwomen’s club had a tent. They cooked the snake at one end and hamburgers at the other.” The Derby’s Butcher Shop demon- strates how the snakes are processed for consumption. Festivalgoers can try the fried snake meat at the Bite-a- Snake Café.


“It has it’s own fl avor. You have to


try it before you can say whether you like it or not. When my mother was alive, she loved it.” Edwards says. “Some people think it takes like chick- en. I think it takes more like frog legs.” Try it and decide for yourself. The


2016 Rattlesnake Derby will take place April 29-May 1 in downtown Mangum.


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MAY McAlester Italian Festival


Eight hundred pounds of meatballs and 700 pounds of Italian sausage set the stage for the McAlester Italian Festival where authentic food, Italian games and a spaghetti-eating contest are the recipe for family fun.


“We weigh out the spaghetti and they have to eat it without using their hands. It’s pretty entertaining,” says Bobby Lenardo, festival committee member, about the spaghetti-eating contest. According to Lenardo, a Kiamichi Electric


Cooperative member, the festival started as a way to celebrate the Italian heritage in the McAlester area. It began in a community park, but has grown over the years and has moved to the Pittsburg County Fairgrounds.


A full spaghetti dinner is served in the main food


tent. Homemade pizza and Italian meatball and sau- sage sandwiches are available in the sandwich tent. Pony rides, infl atables, a small carnival, live music and craft vendors add to the fun. The 45th annual Italian Festival is scheduled for May 21 and 22, 2016, at the Pittsburg County Expo Center. Admission is free; bring money for food. All funds raised from the festival benefi t McAlester area charities.


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JUNE Jay Huckleberry Festival


“It looks similar to a blueberry, but it’s smaller and sweeter,” says Becky Farley, Jay Chamber of Commerce president, about the huckleberry. The fruit, which grows wild in the Jay, Okla., area, draws a crowd to town for the annual Huckleberry


Festival. “We have


folks


who come from all over. I met a couple who come each year from Tulsa and they enjoy it be- cause it’s a hometown event,” Farley, a North- east Oklahoma Electric Cooperative member, says. “You can bring the whole family and enjoy all the different activities for free.” One of the highlights of the festival is the complementary ice cream with huckleberry sauce, served after the Saturday morning parade. A huckleberry pie


auction raises money for the festival. Those who want fresh berries can purchase them, but they come at a premium. “Huckleberries are hard to come by. You have


to fi ght chiggers, snakes and bears to get them. You’re going to pay $50 to $70 per gallon,” Farley says. The 49th annual Huckleberry Festival will take


place June 30-July 4, 2016, in downtown Jay. In addition to the berries, festivities include a gold- fi sh swim, a car show, a 5k run, a carnival, a Gospel Sing, vendors and Fourth of fi reworks.


July


Photo courtesy of Porter Peach Festival


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