KENTUCKY WHOOPIE TRAVELS AND TALES
Blog…. By Mary Pitt / Trey Pitt
We would like to first introduce ourselves to those of you that might read our “little blog- diary” of our adventures in the production and marketing of our “delicious” snack cake. Mary Pitt, the mom and Trey Pitt, the son --a DUO that came up with this idea--this thought (maybe… too much Kentucky Bourbon one night!) to create a little on-line sales venture that has now expanded to a very marketable venture in a very short period. Our direction did change a little when we decided to follow the great sport of Truck & Tractor Pulling and when we became a Grand National Points sponsor for the National Tractor Pullers Association (NTPA). A very good decision on our part, as the fans of this sport have really --taken’ a liken’-- to us! So a BIG THANK YOU...
We both have a great sense of humor, use it daily, and felt it was not fair to you--the reader not to fully share some of our humor and laughter we have enjoyed during this adventure. During the past year of production of our product and the sales of our product, we have had some wonderful opportunity to meet so many people, made so many new friends and had SO many good laughs. Truck and Tractor Pullers, their teams and their fans are simply Good People, Enjoying a Great Sport and being themselves…WE LIKE THAT!
We will introduce you to some of our good friends that we have met along the way. Several you will hear much about as they are really like family: Dion Bliss (AKA Cousin Dion) and Larry Richwine (AKA Uncle Larry). Robbie Neal and Kyle Utter are usually in the mix somehow (sometimes we know them, sometimes we don’t—it just really depends!) Friends that we did not meet along the way, but are a part of our little family and have been for several years are Robert Haggerty (AKA Chicken), Damon Warren (AKA Diesel Damon) and Jess Willard (AKA Sarge) All three are part of the Pulling Team of Super Farm Tractors, Raging Bull and Whoopie Maker…..You will also see them at the Kentucky Whoopie Sales Trailers at the events sometimes. They help us in times of need and they hide there if necessary!
A few others have or will become members of this select group and we will tell you about them as we go along…We can tell you this about them -- “the apple will not fall to far from the tree”
All of the above have the VERY important possession of a key to “THE WHOOPIE TRAILER”---This is a very special sought after item….Remember that the Trailer is full of frozen Whoopie Pies, ice, etc. etc…. and it is Very Cold (Most of the pulls occur in the summer and it truly is a happening place at those times !!)
We are not writers so you must bear with us in our posting. We will share with you all we can without going to the extreme, but at the same time we don’t want to hold back on fun. In both our travel and back home in Franklin, KY at our commercial production facility we have been known to go from one subject to another within a matter of seconds, not skipping a beat and ending in laughter (if we were on TV, many bleeps would have to be included in the mix).
So let’s try this: (We are going to go back and catch up to the beginning of 2012)
January, 2012--- We traveled to the Gordyville Pull (Midwest Winter Nationals), produced by Klint Tucker and his team“Whatssmokin” FYI—Not only NTPA sanctions pulls, but also The PPL, State and Regional Pulls. Some pulls are referred to as Outlaw Pulls, or a Pull that allows all sanctioned tractors to go for it. There are differences in the sanctions based on the Rules of that particular sanction. Gordyville is one of those events that will get everyone together. The classes that pull are Pro Farm – Limited Pro Stock – Super Farm (NTPA and Outlaw) - Limited Super Stock. Note, they have “Smokers” and for those Whoopie Fans that don’t know what that is---it simply means the tractor is a diesel tractor and the Sled Crew creates an avenue to remove that smoke from the indoor arena by way of several—several feet of pipe that funnels the smoke from the tractors to the outside as the tractor moves down the track. Needless to say, it is very Fan Friendly.
This is a very simplified explanation, so for you experts – bear with us…we want to keep it simple. But for you non-tractor pullers, this is a VERY complicated sport with respect to rules, classes, regulations---not to mention the complexity of the trucks and tractors to generate the amount of horsepower via turbo, V-8 style engines, blowers, agricultural engines, etc.
This event in Gordyville is notorious for the cold temperatures that usually are in effect in January in Illinois. So, we were well prepared with gloves, hats, “long handles”, etc. (At least one extra piece of luggage) The joke started here, as the weather was extremely friendly and there was absolutely no need for the additional weather protection….
We set up in the arena next to our very good friend and mentor, Cuz Dion. Dion Bliss, owner of Red Haw Supply is very well known in the NTPA tractor pulling circuit as the NTPA merchandiser. Very-very nice event shirts and merchandise are produced by Dion and his team; in addition the various Truck and Tractor Pulling Teams will go to Dion and have him create shirts for their teams. All of these can be found at Red Haw Supply booths through out the pulling season. Not everyone will know this, but Cuz Dion has an extremely big heart and Trey and I are forever grateful to him for being our friend and helping us along the way. We enjoy his company so much that when we call to confirm our vendor spot at the pulls, we ALWAYS request that we be next to Dion…..really not necessary, as he always has our back and has handled that before we ask. Enough “mushy” about Dion….Real facts: He has the sharpest wit and uses it daily---most will not notice / We Do. He can sell a T-Shirt to a nudist; in fact he can talk them into two without them ever remembering that they don’t wear T-Shirts. He is always on that phone, beware as you might be in a pic for something you did, or in a post for something you said... Best way to handle this, is just be you and laugh at the results.
At Gordyville, Dion had our spot, advised us to add the side to our tents as it could get “dusty”, etc. We did as instructed and we were set up (not knowing) for one of the most exciting tractor pulls ever. The event was so well organized, the number of tractors in the staging area was unbelievable and the number of fans that attended this event was HUGH. The announcer for the event was another good friend of ours, Miles Krieger and was assisted by his Dad, Butch Krieger. Many fans do not realize the importance of good announcers that know the sport….there are never moments of silence with so much action on the track; however, a good announcer will share tid-bits of pulling information and statistics. Leave it to Miles---he works it all in and there is always something new to learn for even the most ardent puller fans. Trey knows Truck & Tractor Pulling, he knows rules, he knows pullers and their teams and he knows how to sale “Whoopie” Pies (Thank goodness!!!!!)----I know enough to be dangerous and have been doing a lot of quick study—so information such as given by the announcers is very good for me during my training. We love the announcers that talk about our “Whoopie Pies” and both Miles and Butch made certain that the crowds would be introduced and they were ---- we “pan-handled” so many of them…….thank you, thank you…….. (Best feeling ever is when, you have sold one Whoopie to someone, they walk away, and then you see them again and they want to buy a dozen to take home) This happened in Gordyville over and over again.
The family has two Super Farm tractors that pull in the circuit (Raging Bull & Whoopie Maker) both will be pulling in the NTPA Grand National circuit this season and at many other State and Regional pulls. Both tractors were at Gordyville and did pretty good….I’ll leave the stats… to the experts. The graphics on Raging Bull had been changed and the crowds like the new look….the graphics on prior incarnation of Raging Bull II had been changed to the new and improved graphics “Whoopie Maker” and pretty sure the fans liked the fun characterization…The tractors are the same as last season, except for clean up / tune up and these face lifts… We were very excited when John offered to make this change to one of his Super Farm tractors. I’m assuming that most pullers want a “mean-powerful” look on their machine….took guts to agree to change an expensive macho engine to a pic of a cartoon horse in a fire suit powering out “Whoopie Pies” and it takes the same guts to drive it…..So many thanks to John for allowing and driving and the same to Chicken and Jess for being ready--willing-- and able to hop on that seat if needed. In the meantime, they can continue to feel the macho power in their number one seat this season as the drivers of Raging Bull……(This tractor says “watch-out”----plus check out the set of glowing red balls on the tractor----people ask me all the time about that ???? What do you say---YEP that’s what “IT IS”!!)
As stated earlier, this event was HUGH—so was the amount of beer…You know that it is a big deal, when after the end of Saturday night’s pull which was technically on Sunday morn, they announce that the beer wagons would be open for two more hours. From a personal standpoint, it was a good deal that beer was so liked----Trey and I purchased a ticket, called a 50/50 ticket (which basically is pay $5 – goes into a pot – at a defined time – the pot ends – the pot is split with ticket holder that is drawn and the event) -- The first drawing took place / no one claimed within the defined time / drew another ticket / BINGO—we won! Sweet! It turns out that the holder of the first ticket had failed to claim his winnings as he was at the beer wagon trying to use that ticket to buy his beer…hmmmmmm. True, as Dion says “can’t make this stuff up”
Gordyville Summary----SUPER PULL, (Thank you Klint), Super Sales (Thank you Fans), Big
Thank you to Dion, Chicken, Jess and Trey for the help and laughs) Ohhhh… thank you Robby and Kyle (sometimes they were there, sometimes not!!)
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