Chocolate-smeared kids crowd Vista festival

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer | Sunday, May 27, 2007 7:45 PM PDT ∞

VISTA ---- Tipping the scales at a feathery 65 pounds, 9-year-old Franny Haman seemed an unlikely victor in Sunday's pie-eating contest at the Vista Village Chocolate Festival.
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But like most victors, she had a plan, a secret and a cheering squad.

"You just slurp it. You drink it," said Franny of her strategy for devouring her competitors and the plate-size confection of whipped cream and chocolate.

The Encinitas second-grader at Park Dale Lane Elementary School vanquished her five challengers with successive --- and highly successful --- swipes of her tongue across the bottom of the pie plate. She was cheered by her cousins and coached by her dad, who whispered updates in her ear on her competitors' progress.

Franny left only smudges of white and brown on the shiny tin. She came up smiling a frothy grin, the pink of her lips the only color in a whipped-cream covered face.

Franny was one of an estimated 10,000 attendees expected at the day-long chocolate-themed event on Main Street in Vista, said Jim Baumann, president of the Vista Chamber of Commerce. Sunday's festival is one of two annual revenue-generating events co-sponsored by the chamber and the Vista Village Business Association, Baumann said.

The groups will host the Vista Family Fun Festival on Sept. 30.

In addition to chocolate, about 120 vendors, including banks, chiropractors and clothes merchants, hawked their goods and services while offering information and freebies to attract attention.

The distinctive sweet-salt smell of Kettle Corn wafted on a breeze that carried the strains of banjo, stand-up bass, guitar and a steel-faced guitar called a dobro from a quartet playing in front of the San Diego Bluegrass Society booth.

In a humorous twist, a caffeine-drenched booth run by "Legal Buzz," which sold coffee, tea and energy drinks, sat next to the Sheriff's Crime Prevention Unit booth.

Noah's Ark Stuff and Fluff, a two-month-old business offering teddy-bear-stuffing parties to moms and school PTAs, did a brisk business helping young patrons make their own teddy bears. Breeze Hill kindergartner Macy Hernandez, with the vestiges of a chocolate frenzy still ringing her lips, clutched her new bear, named Charlie, to her chest.

Among the 120 vendors, 12 chocolatiers hawked everything from chocolate bath oils and Xocai, an unprocessed "healthy chocolate," to chocolate beef jerky.

"Not bad," opined Paul Quarcini of Vista, as he laid down a few dollars for a take-home bag. "It's jerky with a splash of cocoa."

"It tastes better than it sounds," another patron added.

Vista Village Business Association spokeswoman Janet Puckett said this year's chocolate festival boasted twice as many chocolate vendors as last year. The association held a chocolate-themed baking contest on Saturday. Seven contestants, up from three last year, vied for trophies in three categories: adult, teen and child.

Puckett encouraged people who dropped by her booth to ogle the goodies (not for sampling), and sign up for next year's contest.

Nine-year-old Ocean Pearl Bombolis won in the child's category for "Ocean's Mess," a layered confection of pretzels and chocolate drizzled with icing.

"It looked like fun and I like to cook for my brothers," said the Faith Lutheran second-grader, of her decision to sign up for her first cooking contest.

Two-year-old Joey King, riding high on his dad's shoulders, came prepared for the event. His face smeared with chocolate, he clutched a still-wrapped toothbrush in his tiny fist.

In an apt display of the lost art of brevity, Joey summed up the day, his experience and his wish for the immediate future with one happy word.

"Chocolate!"

Contact Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or online at pireland@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.

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