RAMP LOVERS CAME FROM FAR AND WIDE

(04/17/2006)

The WV delicacy is a favorite, cooked just right at Upper West Fork Park

Folks come from far and wide to the annual ramp dinner

Firemen work the skillets, turning out fresh batches for ramp eaters

Folks came far and wide Saturday to enjoy a West Virginia delicacy - the mountain onion, known as ramps.

The annual Upper West Fork Ramp Dinner, sponsored by the fire department and the park as a fundraiser, offered up huge servings of country food that complimented the cooked ramps.

The crowd might have been thinner this year because the event was held the day before Easter, and some folks might not have wanted to carry the odor to church. The weather was a little threatening, but it mostly passed by.

Most ramp eaters say the odor goes away quickly, unless you're eating daily doses of the spring tonic.

The group went to the mountains last weekend to dig the ramps, and then performed the hardworking task of cleaning them.

There was a large supply this year, according to Michelle Sears.

Being at the end of the line "whets the appetite"

The dinner is a time to visit and renew old friends

Cooks put on finishing touches before opening door