42nd Bean Fest All Good

The 2024 Bean Fest and Arkansas Championship Outhouse Race drew the largest crowd in many years, perhaps ushered in by near-perfect weather and near-peak fall foliage. Those two aspects have rarely aligned so well in the event’s 41-year history.

“All the feedback I’ve gotten has been very positive,” commented Tracy Turpin, executive director of the Mountain View Area Chamber of Commerce. “It was the largest crowd in years. Everyone I’ve talked to had a great time. Things just came together in our favor.”

Twenty-six teams competed in the bean cook-off, using various recipes in the quest for the title of Best Beans, and 10 outhouse racers vied for the toilet seat trophies awarded after several heats of racing on Main Street.

The award for best beans went to David Warner of Little Rock at Pot #12, who in his third year of competition cooked up a savory recipe with ham bone.

Second place went to Lane Galloway and Brooke Underwood of Tupelo, Miss., at Pot #5 whose secret recipe mixed with “lots of love” has garnered them two wins in six years of competing.

The Jolly Beans at Pot #4 were ranked third by the judges. Amy Faulkner and her crew from Searcy cooked a pot with smoked ham and seasonings like Cavender’s for a homestyle flavor. 

The JoJo’s Catfish Wharf racing team reclaimed the outhouse championship, relegating last year’s winner, The General Pee (sponsored by Mountain View Chevrolet), back to second place. Jack’s Resort, also a perennial favorite, was third this year.

Many entries excelled in comical effect rather than speed and made entertaining if not fast “sprints” to the finish line.
The KWMV outhouse was chosen as Best Outhouse as judged by visitors to Mountain View selected from the crowd.

A new aspect this year was use of compostable bowls and spoons for serving beans, provided by Friends of Stone County Recycling. Volunteers collected the used bowls and spoons, scraped out any uneaten beans and took the waste to be chipped for composting. This resulted in fewer foam containers and plastic spoons being tossed into trash cans.

“We feel like that was a big success,” Turpin said.

The award for Best Decorated Area went to Faye Tindall and Guyla Nelson, with the bright canopy and mardi gras beads.
The prize for Best Costumes went to Renee George and Geneva George with bonnets and old-time dresses.

Turpin said the event’s success is due to the many volunteers and sponsors who step up to help.

This year, the Family and Consumer Sciences classes at Mountain View High School, supervised by teacher Barbara Cole, baked about 300 pans of cornbread to be served with the beans.

Local Scouting troops 167 and 761 worked all day Saturday and assisted wherever they were needed.

Also, the 309 work detail provided by the Stone County Sheriff’s Office was essential to the effort, Turpin said, providing manpower for loading and unloading pots and tables, among other duties.

“A lot of people put a lot of work into this and I appreciate it,” he said.

See more photos in the Oct. 30 issue.