Peaches plentiful in Marysville

People in pursuit of peaches found plenty to ponder Friday.

Peach scones or peach pie? Banana-peach split or peach cream parfait? Perhaps some pizza, made with cooked peaches, cinnamon streusel and icing? Hundreds of people descended on D Street to make such decisions for the start of the annual Marysville Peach Festival, which continues today.

Andre Nickson, of the Marysville Fire Association, grabbed a peach lemonade and took a break from his booth to pound the pavement. He likes to try all the barbecue and planned to stop at his brother-in-law's stand for the peach-glazed turkey legs.

"I'll gain about five or six pounds in the next few days," he said. "We need to have more events like this in town. It looks like the vendors are doing really good."

In addition to the festival's namesake items, there are custom-made signs and jewelry, yard art and housewares. Those not wanting something peachy — fresh or otherwise — to consume, can find an array of other edibles, including deep-fried zucchini, hot dogs and kettle corn.

Sodaro Orchards offers an ideal match of fresh yellow and white peaches along with a printout of Carmela Sodaro's famous cobbler recipe. Across the street, Urbina Family Farms is selling nine peach varieties, including Sugar Giant, Sweet Blaze and June Pride.

Wheatland resident Wanda Horn came downtown in search of fresh farmers market tomatoes for tomato sandwiches and figured she should pick up some local fruit for peach cobbler, too. She planned to scope out the rest of the festival and bring her husband back today.

"We love it," she said. "It's just fun. You get to see lots of friends. Tell everyone to come down and have a good time."

Yuba City resident Jacob Edwards is handing out snippets of peach licorice

from the Candy Box, which also has pie, ice cream, jams and other sweets. People are keen to try the treat, he said, and nearly 50 bags sold in the first two hours.

"It brings in a lot of business for the companies," Edwards said, of the festival. "If we got to have more of these more often, I think our economy would come up a lot more."

When he was done working, he likes to enjoy other vendors' offerings and live bands.

"And the peach ice tea is the bomb!" Edwards said.

Those wanting to indulge in a more adult libation can seek refuge in downtown bars, which are offering $3 peach daiquiris.

Former schoolmates Kayli Able, of Brownsville, and Julie Whitehead, of Yuba City, met at The Cigar Box for a reunion and peach margaritas.

"This is it. This is the peach festival," Able said, sipping her icy drink from a tiny red straw.

"I'm going to get some peach cobbler later on," Whitehead added.

The women wanted to wander the streets, purvey the vendors and keep an eye out for people they knew.

"I like that it's a community thing. It's our small community putting on a community festival," Able said. "Everything is peachy."

Debbie Brown moved to Marysville in September and was eager to see what the festival was all about. She found peach frozen yogurt and her daughter Rachel, who admitted a bit shyly she's not a fan of peaches, tried the vanilla-chocolate swirl.

The small-town atmosphere reminds her of the county fair back in Puyallup, Wash., but she was a little surprised more vendors were not adhering to the theme.

"I was expecting more fruit and I thought there would be more things that revolve around peaches," she said. "But it's fun."

After buying a cobbler for a friend, Marysville resident Bev Kennedy wanted to see what kind of metal, wooden and other concoctions the craftspeople had for sale.

"I enjoy seeing the creations they keep coming up with," she said. "And for once it's not blistering hot, so it's a real pleasure."

Marysville resident Janet Cogan was thrilled to see the hundreds of people flock downtown in the first few hours of the festival.

"We're glad to have them," she said. "The Yuba City people must have gotten their passports renewed because they came over."

She planned to buy some fresh peaches and check out the vendors. The festival is one of her favorite times of the year.

"Everyone is nice. Everyone is always friendlier," Cogan said. "I think it's a happy time for Marysville."