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Local residents had a good warm-up for the Marion County Fair in Pella Thursday evening as “Under the Big Top” brought some carnival flair to downtown for “Thursdays in Pella”. Several food contests highlighted the evening, with Tess Perkins winning the kids’ “Ugly Cake” contest for her chocolate “dirt-n-worms”-style cake, and Mae Heyveld’s apple pie took top honors in the pie-baking contest.

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Eating contests were also featured, with Spence VerMeer eating the most poffertjes, Bruce Van Donselar eating the most hamburgers and Mark Hayes defending last year’s ice cream-eating title, with Noah Hovell taking the honors in the kids’ division of the ice cream-eating contest.
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The event also included a violin duet from Liz Clark and Liz Van Gorp, a sampling of the children’s performances for the Union Street Players’ upcoming production of Charlotte’s Web and several inflatable games for kids to play on.
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