Hamburgers for politics and crepes for teen robotics among 10 Olympia Lakefair food booths
One of South Sound’s favorite annual summer festivals returns this week. Capital Lakefair opens on Wednesday, July 13, at noon and runs through Sunday, July 17. Every facet of the festival will be up and running this year - from the food court to the rides, the parade, and the grand finale fireworks show.
“The past two years have been challenging for many in our community, and we chose ‘Unity in our Community’ as the theme to bring us all back together to celebrate our family fun tradition of Lakefair,” stated Capital Lakefair 2022 President Ken Ringering in a press release.
According to organizers, Lakefair food vendors typically make over $100,000 in sales that get reinvested into the community through philanthropic contributions and causes.
At Lakefair 2022, there will be 10 vendors selling local favorites such as hamburgers sold by different sides of the political aisle, elephant ears — a cinnamon sugar-encrusted take on fry bread — kettle corn, lemonade and more.
There also will be a few fun twists, such as smoothies blended on a bike, all the BBQ you can eat, Nutella crepes, frozen yogurt and veggie and gluten-free options.
The food court will be open from Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to midnight.
Here are the vendors:
Zonta/Family Education and Support Services
Serving: Kettle corn, giant pickles and smoothies made by the Smoothy Bike
The Zonta Club of Olympia has been a Lakefair fixture since 1977, and they run the booth with Family Education and Support Services (FESS). Zonta is an international organization dedicated to supporting women and children with their local Olympia chapter.
Olympia Host Lions Club
Serving: Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chips, pickles, bottled Pepsi products and water.
Another longtime fair fixture, the Olympia Host Lions Club is part of the “largest and most active service organization in the world,” according to their website. Locally, their service work has supported the region since 1935, and they have about 80 members.
Barb O’Neill Family & Friends
Serving: BBQ pulled chicken, BBQ brisket, BBQ baby back ribs, smoked mac and cheese, potato salad, hot links, vinaigrette coleslaw
The Barb O’Neill Family & Friends stand is selling food and drinks to support their nonprofit work by providing healthy meals to the homeless and holiday meals for the community.
STEM Partners WA / Olympia Robotics Federation
Serving: Ham and cheese crepes, seafood crepes, Nutella crepes, cinnamon crepes, bottled water, and strawberry-flavored juice drink.
The Olympia Robotics Federation was formed in 2019 and became a nonprofit last year. At Lakefair, they will be teaming up with a robotics team from Shelton to serve a variety of crepes to further support their robotics efforts.
Thurston County Democrats
Serving: Demoburgers, french fries, kids meals, gluten-free bun and veggie burger options, cheddar and bacon, chips, water bottles, Coke products, and flavored waters.
The Thurston County Democrats will once again be serving up burgers and fries to generate money to support local candidates running for office.
Thurston County Republicans
Serving: Hot dogs, bratwurst, corn dogs, garlic fries, nacho cheese with corn chips, prepackaged snacks including cookies, candy, protein bars, as well as assorted bottled beverages and bottled water.
At the Thurston County Republicans food stand, sales of bratwurst and other fair favorites will raise funds to help support local Republican candidates.
S4 Stevens Racing
Serving: Funnel cake, cotton candy, and kettle corn
New to Lakefair, the S4 Stevens Racing food booth supports a local nonprofit that works within the local community.
Smash’n Burgers
Serving: Egg rolls, samosa, Korean tacos, spice chicken sandwich and bubble tea.
If you are a fan of bubble tea and spicy food, a new addition for 2022 is Smash’n Burgers, which will use the proceeds to support a local mosque.
Southsound Limeberry
Serving: Frozen yogurt with toppings
For fans of Limeberry, Villamil Enterprises will have a stand at this year’s Lakefair serving the delicious frozen yogurt treat. Proceeds will support South Sound Church, which helps families with special needs children.
Hungarian Kitchen
Serving: Elephant ears and Hungarian food
Hungarian Kitchen is supporting the Capital Lakefair Community Ambassador Scholarship Program.
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
