These mom and pop shops bring hungry fans back to the NC State Fair year after year

For many of the mom and pop vendors at the North Carolina State Fair, the sizzle of sausages and wafting aroma of french fry grease isn’t a year-round way of life. They don’t run restaurants or travel a carnival circuit from state to state. October is their time to shine.

But in many ways, those 11 days of fair duty — plus the weeks of prep work before and cleanup after — are the highlight of the year: a chance to see old friends, keep traditions alive, and yes, make a little money.

But more often than not, the emphasis isn’t on any kind of huge payday.

Belinda Schoonover of Raleigh, who has been behind the counter at the family-owned Tater Hut for more than 25 years, says “it’s not a money thing.”

The Tater Hut specializes in fresh-cut ribbon fries and french fries, where you can get a small cone of fries for $3 (the Hut is known as the “home of the cone fry”), a large tray for $5 and a giant family-size bowl of fries for $10.

It’s a lot of work compared to the amount of money you actually take in, Schoonver said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “It’s very labor-intensive. Hauling potatoes, washing, cutting, frying. I’m not setting the world on fire out here ... This year I just hope we make enough to cover it. Closed Thursday, Friday was terrible. It’s been an off year so far.”

Schoonover said the big payoff for all of that labor is hanging out with people — the other vendors and the return customers.

“The thing I enjoy most is seeing the same people every year,” she said. “I don’t know them but they come up and hug me. I’ve seen kids grow up. One family comes every year — I can’t tell you their names, but they’re out here every year. I’ve seen the kids go from strollers to college and now they are graduating. So many people I don’t know, but I know their faces.”

When we talked to Schoonover earlier this week, she was still waiting to see one particular customer.

“There’s this one older man and every year he comes out and eats french fries, sits out back with me, and every year I always think I’m not going to see him this year,” she said. “I haven’t seen him yet this year and I’m worried.”

Barefoot & Sons keep tradition alive

Across from the Tater Hut, fairgoers are drawn in by the scent of Italian and Polish sausages grilled with onions and peppers at the Charlie Barefoot and Sons tent. Family patriarch Charlie Barefoot opened the tent in 1949, selling hot dogs to passersby with a shout of “How ‘bout one!”

The Johnston County native passed away in 2003, but his sons Joe and Billy Barefoot knew they had to keep it going. “It’s about keeping a family tradition,” Joe told The News & Observer this week. “And keeping the name Charlie Barefoot alive,” Billy added.

The brothers are both retired now, so operating the stand each fall is their main job. They are there each morning when it opens and they stay until it closes. But they get a lot of help from the rest of the family, including the many grandchildren of Charlie Barefoot.

Charlie’s granddaughter Stephanie Moore also feels invested in the family tradition.

“From my perspective, it’s fun,” she said. “I truly enjoy working at the hotdog stand. At the same time, I do love the idea of keeping the family tradition going. That is the extra incentive to keep moving forward on those hard days.”

As with Schoonover, the Barefoots enjoy seeing the same people every year.

“A large amount of our customers have been coming to us for years,” Joe said. “You create a friend-family bond with them.”

Granddaughter Cynthia Barefoot says seeing people return for their food year after year is her favorite part of working the fair. “Hearing everyone’s story about how their parents bought (hot dogs) when they were young, and they can remember Charlie yelling ‘How ‘bout one!’ to the fairgoers as they passed by.”

Stephanie agrees. “We have lots of customers that have been coming for years,” she said. “I have developed ‘fair friendships’ with these people I only see once a year. They comment that they have seen me grow up, and I in return have seen their children grow.”

Fair starts busy season for NC Fudge

Another fair long-timer is the Rougemont-based NC Fudge shop, situated at the end of restaurant row by the giant oak tree and the State Fair Flyer.

Linda West said selling fudge at the fair originally started more than 30 years ago as a fundraising effort for a community softball team, but officially became a family business about 20 years ago. West, now retired from IBM after 34 years (she used her vacation time each year to work the fair), sells her fudge at other local events, but says the state fair marks the start of her busiest season.

The days are long, she said, but she has help.

“Family and friends come out and help so I don’t have to stay from opening to close,” West said in a phone interview. “For the second shift, my son comes over and he has friends that come with him. It’s a long day when you become a senior citizen!”

West sells more than 20 flavors of fudge — peanut butter chocolate is the top seller — but she has streamlined the process to make the fair days go smoother.

“Years ago we would make it and cut it on site,” West said. Now she takes the week before the fair to make all the fudge she’ll need for the 11-day run, cooked up in her state-approved home kitchen, then cuts, wraps and labels it ahead of time.

“We sell quarter pound blocks for $3.50, or you can get a pound and a half of any six flavors for $20,” she said.

West uses premium brands to cook her fudge — “it makes a difference,” she said — and tries to use North Carolina products whenever possible. “I use Cheerwine and pecans from North Carolina,” she said. “It’s hard to find some things local, but I try.”

The exhaustion of the long days is something all three vendors agree on.

Cynthia Barefoot said that some nights they get maybe five hours of sleep. “Come the last Sunday, we come in at 8 in the morning and when the fair closes for the year we break down our stand that night and bring it home,” Cynthia said. “Most years we don’t get home until 3 a.m. Monday morning.”

Schoonover said during the fair, her mornings start at 6 a.m., restocking the booth and getting things set up for the day. On weekend nights, when the fair closes at midnight, she might get 3 or 4 hours of sleep.

She has help from her two daughters and two of her daughters’ friends, plus her husband, who does all the set-up and repairs.

“We work our butts off and we’re greasy and we stink like french fries, but the next day, we come back,” she said. Her workers tell her, “We come back because we love you, Miss B!”

This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 3:43 PM.