Food, community highlight 10th Rotary Food Truck Competition

“What a day, we have endless food choices, good weather, families enjoying themselves. Is there anyplace else you’d want to be doing on a Saturday,” said Eddie Bell, Food Truck Competition marketing committee chair.

Jay and Peg Collins of Pitchin are regulars at Veterans Park for the event, save for the very first. They don’t plot out their day, preferring to wing it and enjoy the atmosphere as they explore.

“We’re here for the community aspect and to try different things. We meet up with a lot of people and just enjoy it all,” said Jay Collins.

Peg Collins chose to start with dessert, grabbing a chimney cake, while Jay was going the traditional route, looking to start with mac and cheese and saving the treats for after, but admitting there isn’t a right or wrong way when it comes to this day.

One attendee chose to give away some of her purchases including egg rolls and crab rangoon so she could have room for one of the sweet treats.

The food trucks were competing for a $5,000 first-place prize, second place earned $2,500, third a $1,500 prize; a people’s choice voted on by attendees got $1,000.

As competition organizers strive to balance their roster with popular returnees, newcomers and those offering fresh tastes, one first-time entrant in the competition had the unique combination of offering tasty, yet healthier choices.

Leerah’s Vegan Treats was the competition’s first vegan food truck. Springfield native Camille Hall opened her truck last September, going out to various festivals and pop-up events and wanted to to make this local, popular event the place to broaden their reach.

She said people are in disbelief to see a vegan option and pleasantly surprised to find out their plant-based menu is tasty as well as healthy.

“It’s heartwarming,” said Hall. “We’re trying to provide something there’s so little of in Clark County and want to get our name out there.”

Their vegan crab cake sandwich, for instance, not only helps those watching calories, but people who can’t have shellfish or similar food allergies. Their Big L lentil-based burger, named for Hall’s granddad, is what they were submitting to judges as their signature dish.

They also offer vegan treats including a buckeye cupcake using SunButter opposed to peanut butter and tater doodles, their version of snickerdoodle cookies.

“The majority of our customers are not vegan, but are curious about eating plant-based. The reach is growing and we’d like the community and beyond to know we’re here,” Hall said.

One of 2023′s popular new trucks was Dine-in Hawaiian from Hamilton, where customers could try various island dishes and get a souvenir lei to wear. While they enjoyed the experience, saying the spirit of community differed from many of the places they set up and earned the runner-up prize, this year their eyes were focused on the top prize.

Five judges from local and area restaurants tasted each signature dish. Plato Pavlatos of Springfield Rotary said 2024 was the best year for signature dishes yet.

Aaron Kimura of Dine-in Hawaiian took the judges’ advice from a year ago and submitted a soy-based shortbread and it took the grand prize. Kimura appreciates the event.

“It’s well-organized and well put-together and the fee isn’t outrageous to enter,” he said, hoping to defend the title in the future.

Second place went to Tortilla Street Food of Hilliard, which finished first in 2016, and third went to Urbana’s Raging Bull Wood Fired Pizza.

Attendees chose first-time attendee El Cardenal as the people’s choice winner.

Proceeds from the Food Truck Competition go toward a number of the Springfield chapter’s causes such as services for people with disabilities, scholarships, international projects including Lesotho in Africa and local projects including a $25,000 donation to Springfield’s Jefferson Street Oasis Garden.