Enter chicken joke here
After a hard day at the office, R.I. White returns home to the usual henpecking. “Yeah, I stopped for a drink. So, sue me.”
Fair Oaks is home to nearly 200 feral chickens, free to roam the town and cross the roads wherever and whenever they please. This flock of wandering poultry is descended from the hens and roosters brought by the first settlers of the area, farmers who bought 20-acre tracts for citrus growing back in 1895. What better way could there be to celebrate 100 years with these free-range friends than by holding a chicken barbecue? There’s more to it than that, much more in fact. The Fair Oaks Chicken Festival will be held this Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with events at a number of locations in Fair Oaks Village. It starts with a $5 “Eggstravaganza Breakfast” at the Fair Oaks Community Club House. Get up early for the eggs, sausage, french toast, bacon, biscuits and lots of coffee. The musical acts, including local favorites Mumbo Gumbo and Knucklehead, will take the stage at 10 a.m. Kids’ activities and games run from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. At noon, check out the cooking demonstrations at the Veterans’ Memorial Amphitheater. For $10, you can try gourmet dishes and wine pairings from local restaurants such as Slocum House, Village Bistro and Taka’s Japanese Cuisine. Finally, at 3 p.m. contestants in the Barbeque Chicken Cook-off will take to their grills in front of Fair Oaks Hardware on Fair Oaks Boulevard. Don’t worry, folks, the sponsors insist, “We’re not thinning the flock.” General admission to the festival is free. For more information, call (916) 961-2146. A full schedule and great “chicken fun facts” are available at www.fairoakschickenfestival.com.
