By Betsy Finklea
The banquet to crown the winners of the Dillon County Tomato Contest was held on Thursday evening at the City of Dillon Wellness Center.
The banquet is the culmination of this highly competitive event.
Competitors enjoyed conversation prior to the start of the event and watched a slide show of the judging as everyone awaited to see who would be declared the winner. Heather Benjamin welcomed everyone, and Mitchell Gardner blessed the food.
Then everyone enjoyed a covered dish meal prepared by the competitors and Clemson staff. The dishes included broccoli quiche – Elizabeth Snipes; cabbage – Alexis Daymon
BLT sliders with aioli – Shannon and Justin Foxworth; mac and cheese – Michael Benjamin; ham and banana pudding – Heather Benjamin; squash casserole – W.J. Gadson; squash casserole and strawberry cake – Teresa Brown; cookies and donuts – Andy Wallace; peaches and cream corn – Mrs. Judy Gardner; stewed potatoes and cucumbers – the Braceys; and fried chicken and baked chicken catered by Heavenly Delight.
After a delicious meal, the awards were presented. There were three divisions—the youth division, the adult container grown division, and the adult field grown division. The winners were:

Youth Division
1st – Jonah Lynch
2nd – Boyce Moody
3rd – Cade Arnette
4th – Deacon Snipes
5th – Carley Benjamin
Jonah Lynch unfortunately was not able to attend last night’s event and accept his award.

Adult Container Grown
1st – Wayne McRae
2nd – Eddrinia Parker
3rd – Angelia Page
Wayne McRae is a longtime competitor. This is the first time he has won first place for the best container grown tomato plants in Dillon County.

Adult Field Grown
1st – Ronnie Bracey
2nd – Andy Wallace
3rd – Teresa Brown
4th – Walter “W.J.” Gadson
5th – Mitchell Gardner
6th – Thomas McRae
Ronnie Bracey is a longtime competitor and has won multiple tomato titles for the best tomatoes in Dillon County.

Several nice door prizes were given out at the event. Mitchell Gardner won the grand prize, a Carolina Cooker portable tabletop gas grill.
Carmen Ketron, Horticulture Agent, said they would like to expand the event into some kind of festival to celebrate tomatoes, and they would like to form a committee to head it up. If you are interested in being on the committee, email her at cketron@clemson.edu or call or text her at 843.773.1422. They hope to have even more competitors in next year’s competition.
Everyone enjoyed the event and can’t wait for next year.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Betsy Finklea/The Dillon County News, LLC and contributed photos