Tre Groninger, 8, Rochester, waits for the judges to award the best decorated zucchini at the Oakville Zucchini Jubilee on Saturday.
Decorated zucchini line a table at the Oakville Zucchini Jubilee on Saturday. Judges awarded the first place award to Solomiya Kukhor, Oakville, who made the zucchini pictured on the left.
Stephanie Kukhor, Oakville, admires her winning decorated zucchini that won her the ribbon pinned to her shirt during the Oakville Zucchini Jubilee on Saturday.
Piles of decorated zucchini sit on a table during the Oakville Zucchini Jubilee on Saturday.
Attendees of the Oakville Zucchini Jubilee could purchase fresh zucchini, baked goods or homemade cookbooks during the festival on Saturday.
OAKVILLE — After the Oakville Chamber of Commerce decided to suspend the Oakville Zucchini Jubilee last year due to a lack of civic support, the festival returned to the city park on Saturday.
“It did not go on last year,” Theresa Keegan, a chamber member, said. “We had to form a new chamber board and rejuvenate it.”
Chamber member and United Methodist Church Pastor Bill Scholl told The Chronicle last year that the board of directors voted to suspend operations because they couldn’t find enough volunteers to get involved in in the jubilee.
"The group that kept going was getting tired and we just decided to suspend it until somebody else steps up and takes it over," Scholl said.
Keegan and other locals came together this year to host the Zucchini Jubilee.
The celebration this year drew locals to the park for a pet parade, a zucchini cook-off, a zucchini decorating contest and other games.
“It’s a unique, new twist on festivals or jubilees,” Keegan said. “We even had a goat with lipstick on (at the pet parade).”
Area farmers and community members donated the zucchinis, some more than a foot long, to the festival. Participants in the zucchini cook-off used the donated squash to make dishes ranging from eggrolls to zucchini butter.
Kay McKail, Oakville, never cooked with zucchini before the jubilee, but was encouraged by the chamber members to step outside of her comfort zone and enter her zucchini chips in the cook-off.
“I have never cooked zucchini in my life,” McKail said. “The truth is, I don’t even like zucchini.”
The jubilee also featured fried zucchini made from members of the Friends of the Oakville Timberland Library. Local kids competed in a tug of war and a seed spitting contest.
The zucchini decorating contest attracted kids of all ages to compete using ribbons, lace, buttons and other crafts to bring the large zucchinis to life.
Solomiya Kukhor, a homeschooled high school student from Oakville, ended up winning the decorating contest and took home the winning prize of $5.
“I didn’t even know there were prizes,” Kukhor said “I just did it.”
By the end of the jubilee Saturday afternoon, Keegan and the other chamber members felt encouraged about the event that had to be canceled a year ago.
“We are going to make it even bigger and better next year,” Keegan said.
