State Fair of Texas Funnel Cake Queen (Texas Country Reporter)

Most Texans know that iconic booming voice means one thing: The State Fair of Texas is finally here, happy screams filling the air as the rides go up and down and twist and turn and fryers cook up everything you can think of. fit on a stick. For many people, stopping by is an annual tradition, but follow the aroma of sweet dough with powdered sugar to the Embarcadero building and you'll meet a family with a connection to the

fair

that takes the

cake

. My first memories of working at the

fair

were when I was 17 and I didn't like it at all I absolutely hated it but now I absolutely love it I couldn't be in Dallas in October and not be at the State Fair of Texas it's been 50 years since Christi RPO First she began working at the fair, then her sister Jonna joined in, and together they kept their family's legacy alive and healthy by serving up a sweet concoction with more twists and turns than the cogwheel ride found at the famous Midway State Fair because she did I We did it, we know our strengths and she can go really crazy, it's a family organization and my younger sister, she's the CFO, the CFO of our business and I'm the CFO, the CFO of our business So what makes these two CFO

funnel

cake

s stand out from the rest, they'll get what they do right, for starters, these were the first

funnel

cakes at the State Fair of Texas, brought here in the '80s by Christie and John, her parents, John and Ferny, Today, Bernie is better known by her royal title, The Queen Mother of Funnel Cake comes to the fair almost every day and greets everyone on the way to the fairgrounds. , they're like there's Bernie, there's Bernie and then I take her inside and she sits there and they take her picture.

She gets autographs from everyone, she's like a little celebrity and it's so nice to see her at 93 years old still having so much fun now that some people have described her as State Fair royalty. I don't know if I'm NOT. been here for a long time you have your throne you said when you are this is actually what you do during the fair didn't you say it here they say and act surprised I said yes I will be here next year? OMG, today, Ferny's funnel cake is as iconic as Fletcher's cheesy dog, even Oprah has ditched it for the oven-fried fair favorite, but this beautiful family hasn't stopped there, they spend a lot of time experimenting with new recipes and almost every year.

They are competing in the Big Tex Choice Awards, you think they have run out of ideas, but if it's food, Christie and Jonna say it can be fried, we have been to the Big Tex Choice Awards 16 times and in 15 years there is no no one else has been in the contest as many times as we have in 2009. We won the Big Tex Choice Awards for fried peaches and cream. In 2015 we won four carrot cakes with holy moly. Probably last year we won four John Hoppin' pies with Jackpot sauce. We didn't win in 2008 for our fried grilled cheese sandwich, but it's still one of our biggest sellers to this day, so yeah, it's nice that this year Ferny's Fried Bert Burrito was nominated, and while it didn't won, this fried tortilla stuffed with jalapeño. spread popper and barbecue burnt ends are a big hit, but Bernie and her daughters say they don't come back year after year because of all the success they have, they come back because the fair is part of their family and their family is part of the fair .

Does it make you feel to see your daughters take control and continue doing this well? It makes me feel happy that they want to continue doing it in the family. We are in our third generation. My little sister went into labor making funnel cakes here and that. The funnel cake that baby is remembering is our Skyway porch manager and our booth manager. How do you feel about continuing your parents' legacy but at the same time creating all these new things? It feels wonderful on the day of the Big Tex Choice Awards John and I was running extension cords and doing all this.

I just liked the honor because we were both on the ground. I said dad would be very proud of his daughters. I know mom is what it's like for you to see your mom sitting there carrying the court. during the fair it's wonderful I'm going to be sad having your mom in '93 it's a blessing but seeing your mom so active and enjoying life so much in '93 is one of the greatest blessings that has ever existed there is something special about The fair may be the thrill of discovery with spectacle and wonder around every corner, but the couple who brought funnel cake and many other fabulous fried foods to the State Fair of Texas never imagined what this place, this annual extravaganza, would come to mean. much more. mom, think about what you know, it's just passed down from parents to children, mom is incredibly proud of all of us, it means a lot to her to see what she and dad created and how we still maintain it after 50 years, and so much more, do you think What will you do?

Come here to the fair and sit here in your chair and take it all in as long as I can get in the car and come here, bring someone brave, I'll be here, look for him, it's the State Fair of Texas it wouldn't be the State Fair of Texas without Ferny, that This is what we would like to thank. We have had a good time here all our years. Wouldn't you listen to that part?