Old Town Dayton was alive with people and pasta on Saturday as the eighth annual Oodles of Noodles flooded the streets with treats for all.
"We've gone through at least 5,000 tasting cups for the pasta cookoff so far, and we're expecting 10,000 people today," said Susan Skaggs, executive director of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, as she surveyed the crowded streets just after noon. "This is the largest turnout we've had, and of course there is the beautiful weather."
Nine teams lined Pike Street, dishing out cups of pasta and vying for the top noodle title.
"We served a lot of pasta already," said Malcom Gafford of the Terrible's Casino team. "We had two pastas, and ran out of our Mongolian beef already."
Kathy McClintock, of the defending champion American Family Insurance team, was impressed by the number attending this year's event.
"It is more than I'm used to seeing, and we have participated for the last five years." McClintock said.
The American Family Team again won the Judge's Choice, as well as getting the most people's choice votes among the amateur teams.
Doppelgangers served up a Thai chicken pasta salad, which won first place for the professional teams.
"We were trying to do something different, and we wanted to do something cold," said John Sieben of Doppelgangers.
Besides the warm spring sun, one reason for the increased interest was the presence of two other events. The Carson River Festival, put on by the Nevada River Wranglers, hosted an event adjacent to the Oodles contest, with informational booths about the Carson River. There also was a health fair put on by the Dayton Valley Task Force. It added up to more than 100 booths for all of the events.
The Dayton High School Jazz Band also was on hand to entertain the crowd, as were the Fallon Swing Team dancers, musicians Don & Nadine, and juggler Peter Allspice.
Judges Choice
American Family Insurance
People's Choice, Amateur
1. American Family Insurance
2. Charlotte Richarz
3. Coldwell Banker Best Sellers
People's Choice, Professional
1. Doppelgangers
2. Terrible's Casino (Mongolian beef)
3. Terrible's Casino (Sicilian pasta)$