TORRINGTON – The Main Street in Torrington was cleared and traffic blocked off to host the Third Thursday of the month. A new event for Torrington and sponsored by the Torrington Chamber of Commerce and Goshen County Economic Development Corp.
With the temperature in the upper 80’s, the heat was not from the temperature but from the fun people were having on Main Street.
The Chambers Sandy Hoehn said. “It went great. It was nice to see a community come together and to see it come to life. The Main Street proprietors were great, staying open late, giving people a chance to shop when the stores were usually closed.”
Being in the Third Thursday program for over two years, the city will be eligible to join the organization Main Street. The group offers help to find grants, as well as awarding grants, to upgrade and repair the Main Street and beautification projects.
With games and contests spread out through the Main Street, adults and children were walking up and down Main Street to find something that was unusual, something they may need. One contest was the Hula Hoop contest offered by the hospital.
Moving her hips in a circle, Maggie Butler said she was doing the Hula Hoop contest because her friends Molly Slegal and Micheal Jackson told her to do it. Butler was being timed, to set the goal of what time to beat. Micheal and Molly felt they were too old to do the Hula Hoop, Butler felt they were to old but young at heart. If her time stood through the afternoon she would win tickets to the comedy night at the Fair Grounds.
Across the street, a pie eating contest was about to begin with two participants, Brandon Phillips set to take on Abby Blow. With their faces covered with whip cream the contest was over in just a few seconds.
“It was for fun,” Phillips said. “I had always wanted to do it.
“I mean it’s silly, it’s just the idea going out and doing something that someone would not do in public,” he said. “I am always trying to do something unique. I try to put myself out in the community.”
Abby Blow lost, but she still had a smile on her face and for her good sportsmanship won a prize. Blow said she did the pie eating contest because it was fun and they need more pie eating contests at the next Third Thursday.
Bee Chilled also was on Main Street for Third Thursday, with ice cream to help cool the day off. Wylie and Marcos Martinez, owners of the ice cream truck, and their family came to Third Thursday to let people know they are still in the ice cream business.
“We are keeping our name out there we are hoping to get a new Bee going for the summer. We have a bike that is called ‘The Stinger’ that we are normally on. We want to be here and be part of the community,” Wylie Martinez said. “I think this is a great thing for the community and hope it continues and I hope the community comes out in support.”
Back across main Street was the Hot Dog eating Contest, sponsored by Pinnacle Bank, the event most people had come to see. What is the most difficult part when having a Hot Dog Eating Contest? Kaleen Troupe from Pinnacle Bank said, finding the people who want to eat all those hot dogs.
“Knowing the number of people is hard too, because we got way too many hot dogs. The idea of Third Thursday is a good one,” Troupe said. “It is good for the community and it gets the people out.”
For one little boy, the hot dog eating contest was his celebration. Kelsey Osborn, the mother of Corbin Elliott, said he had gotten through an operation for a cleft pallet and wanted to do this contest.
Osborn said, “Corbin was born with cleft lip and pallet. He had specialty feeder bottles, four years of intense therapy to be able to chew and swallow properly and he is competing in a hot dog eating contest at the age of seven and killing it.”
His mother was so proud of him. He did something he was unable to do a short time before, eating a lot of hot dogs.
Third Thursday will be every third Thursday of the month with room for all to come and enjoy.
Contact the Chamber of Commerce or GCEDC for more information.
