- Title: Trump supporters flock to Roadkill Cook-off in West Virginia
- Date: 29th September 2024
- Summary: MARLINTON, WEST VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 28, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF 33-YEAR-OLD BANKER FROM MARLINTON, KENDALL BEVERAGE, CHOPPING UP DEARMEAT ON GRILL (SOUNDBITE)(English) KENDALL BEVERAGE, 33-YEAR-OLD BANKER FROM MARLINTON, WEST VIRGINIA, SAYING: “Yeah, so the rules of the cook-off is you have to have something that's commonly found dead on the road in West Virginia, which here we have a bunch of deer. If you come in either 219 or 39, you saw a bunch of deer. We killed one this morning coming in about 4 o’clock. Skinned that thing up, we have it on the Blackstone, we're cooking it up. We put it in with some beans. We call it our bumper beans, buck bustin’ bumper beans. I mean, what's better than that at the roadkill Cook-Off? VARIOUS OF DEER MEAT SOLD AT STAND VARIOUS OF ROADKILL COOKOFF ATTENDEES EATING FOOD RESIDENT OF BUCKHANNON, DEBBIE GREEN, WITH FRIENDS (SOUNDBITE)(English) DEBBIE GREEN, ATTENDEE AND RESIDENT OF BUCKHANNON, WEST VIRGINIA, SAYING: “Well, I support Trump because of the economy, mostly and the border. The border is just a major issue with us.” VARIOUS OF MARLINTON, WEST VIRGINIA MAYOR SAM FELTON POSING FOR PHOTOS (SOUNDBITE)(English) SAM FELTON, MAYOR OF MARLINTON, WEST VIRGINIA, SAYING: “Well, I just think that immigration and the crime situation, inflation is on everybody's mind. And so, yeah, I cannot hardly wait to vote for Mr. Trump, is my plan, so.” WOMAN TASTING FOOD BEAR MEAT AND A SIGN WARNING ATTENDEES TO “EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK” VARIOUS OF BEAR MEAT LEFT OUT FOR ATTENDEES BURLINGTON RESIDENTS, SIBLINGS CAMILLE AND SETH FRAZIER, EATING BEAR MEAT (SOUNDBITE)(English) CAMILLE FRAZIER, ATTENDEE AND RESIDENT OF BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, SAYING: “I wanted to try bear. That was one that we were talking about on the way up here, what we, we wanted to try the most. And I said bear. It was really good. It was tender.” (SOUNDBITE)(English) SETH FRAZIER, ATTENDEE AND RESIDENT OF BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, SAYING: “Personally, I'm kind of looking for the possum. I kind of want to try that, but.” VARIOUS OF CAMILLE AND SETH FRAZIER WALKING THROUGH EVENT (SOUNDBITE)(English) CAMILLE FRAZIER, ATTENDEE AND RESIDENT OF BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, SAYING: “We're Republicans, just because, I mean party, not necessarily supporting, not backing the candidate when we have, kind of a rock and a hard place as far as who we’re choosing between. But, I mean, I'm a Republican just because of the beliefs and the party. So that's who I’ll be voting for, probably Trump.” (SOUNDBITE)(English) SETH FRAZIER, ATTENDEE AND RESIDENT OF BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, SAYING: “Ditto, you know, I mean, so.” VARIOUS OF ROADKILL COOK-OFF PARTICIPAN, KAYLA KUH, COOKING BEAR MEAT (SOUNDBITE)(English) KAYLA KUH, ROADKILL COOK-OFF PARTICIPANT, SAYING: “Well, this bear was hit by a egg truck, and that's how we got the eggs as well. So that's why we brought it down here today. Decided to cook it up for breakfast.” VARIOUS OF HARRISON COUNTY RESIDENT JIM GREYNOLDS’ FAMILY EATING (SOUNDBITE)(English) JIM GREYNOLDS, ATTENDEE AND RESIDENT OF HARRISON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA, SAYING: “I think, Kamala Harris, could she quit lying? I’m a Trump man all the way.” GREYNOLDS SITTING WITH FAMILY AND A SMALL SASQUATCH STUFFED ANIMAL ATTENDEES AT ROADKILL COOK-OFF (SOUNDBITE)(English) DARRICK HAYHURST, ALMOST HEAVEN SMOKEHOUSE OWNER, SAYING: “I do, I'll vote for Trump this year. I'd like to see the economy change. I'd like to see everybody making money and spending money again.” VARIOUS OF HAYHURST TAKING CUSTOMER’S ORDER AND MONEY FROGLEG AND DEAR MEAT STEW ON TABLE ATTENDEE TRIES STEW WHILE LISA WINEBRIMMER LOOKS ON (SOUNDBITE)(English) LISA WINEBRIMMER, ROADKILL COOK-OFF PARTICIPANT, SAYING: “So, we have a croakin’ deer stew, which is frog meat and venison in a stew. Most of the vegetables in it are from our garden and the deer is from a deer that tried to get in our garden last year. [laughs]” ATTENDEES EATING FOOD ATTENDEES WAITING IN LINE VARIOUS OF ATTENDEE, WATOGA STATE PARK VOLUNTEER, NANCY SMITHSON, TALKING TO ATTENDEES (SOUNDBITE)(English) NANCY SMITHSON, WATOGA STATE PARK VOLUNTEER FROM MARLINTON, WEST VIRGINIA, SAYING: “Well, you, you have a lot of backroads, so, and you have a lot of deer and turkey. So there's a big chance that sooner or later, you're going to collide with something, hopefully something it’s small and it's not a black bear.” VARIOUS OF EVENT ORGANIZER AND POCAHONTAS COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRESIDENT, BILL JORDAN, TALKING TO FRIENDS (SOUNDBITE)(English) BILL JORDAN, EVENT ORGANIZER AND POCAHONTAS COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRESIDENT, SAYING: “You name it, we've had it. We've had iguana. We've had alligator in the past. We've had squirrel, pheasants, turkey, lots of deer meat because deer are very plentiful here. Of course, bear meat.” VARIOUS OF ROADKILL COOK-OFF SHIRT VARIOUS OF ATTENDEES AT ROADKILL COOK-OFF AND AUTUMN FESTIVAL
- Embargoed: 13th October 2024 21:17
- Keywords: appalachia appalachian autumn festival donald trump marlinton roadkill cookoff trump supporters west virginia
- Location: MARLINTON, MILL POINT & RENICK, WEST VIRGINIA
- City: MARLINTON, MILL POINT & RENICK, WEST VIRGINIA
- Country: US
- Topics: Human-Led Quirky,Human-Led Stories,North America,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001792329092024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Bear meat, groundhog, frog legs and freshly killed deer. Those were some of the foods served up at the West Virginia Roadkill Cook-off in Marlinton, West Virginia on Saturday (September 28).
For the past 33 years, the event has attracted adventurous eaters from near and far to the small Appalachian town with a population of about 1,000.
Kendall Beverage, a local banker, was chopping up fresh deer meat on the grill to mix with beans for a venison chili dish. Beverage said the deer meat was fresh.
“We killed one this morning coming in about 4 o’clock. Skinned that thing up,” Beverage said. “We call it our…buck bustin’ bumper beans.”
Along with unusual eats, politics were a point of discussion as the event falls roughly five weeks before Election Day.
Attendees who spoke to Reuters expressed support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, citing the economy and immigration as major concerns.
Darrick Hayhurst, owner of Almost Heaven Smokehouse, said he’s casting his vote for Trump.
“I'd like to see the economy change,” Hayhurst said. “I'd like to see everybody making money and spending money again.”
Sam Felton, the mayor of Marlinton, West Virginia, said he was eager to vote for the former president, who won West Virginia by more than two-thirds the vote in 2020, earning more than 68% of votes compared to nearly 30% of votes cast for President Joe Biden.
“Immigration and the crime situation, inflation is on everybody's mind,” Felton said. “I cannot hardly wait to vote for Mr. Trump.”
Even attendees from out of state, like siblings 26-year-old Camille and 20-year-old Seth Frazier of Burlington, North Carolina, said they would vote for Trump, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
“We have, kind of a rock and a hard place as far as who we’re choosing between,” said Camille Frazier. “But, I mean, I'm a Republican, just because of the beliefs and the party. So that's who I’ll be voting for, probably Trump.”
While organizers said the food served at the cook-off isn’t actually roadkill, but instead dishes featuring animals you’d find on the side of the road, signs at each table warned diners to “Eat at your own risk! Food is not inspected by the Health Department.”
Participating teams of cooks vied for a 1st place $1,500 prize, which this year went to High Rocks Academy, a local educational nonprofit for young people, that served “front fender farmstand stir fry,” or deer meat stir fry.
Roadkill collisions are very common in West Virginia given the state’s many forested roads and large deer population. This year, the insurance company State Farm ranked West Virginia as the most likely U.S. state for a driver to hit an animal, listing 1 in 40 odds for animal collisions in the state.
West Virginia even has a state law allowing drivers to take home and eat roadkill under certain conditions, like informing the local law enforcement agency within 12 hours of hitting an animal.
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