SMITHFIELD—What do turkey bowling, flying monkeys and heavy handbags have in common? The Lee’s Marketplace Holiday Food Show. The event was filled with free samples, crazy games, and a lot of holiday food ideas.

Store director Pete Krusi said that the show has been held for the last three years and has been very successful. Krusi said they estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 people attended on Friday. “We think it’s a great time to let people see all of the fun unique things we have for the holidays. We like to let them try everything and see what they like,” he said.

This year items such as pomegranates with ice cream, crab cheese ball, deli-made grape juice and more were located throughout the store for sampling. “The best part of the show is seeing lots of people eating lots of food,” Krusi said.

Almost 20 different demos were available around the store. “I came in here to buy some milk and got a whole lunch instead,” shopper Candace Nielson said.

“The pineapple was amazing! I had to buy three after I tried it,” shopper James Packer said.

Local foods were also sampled out, such as Week’s Freezer Jam made in Providence and Caramel Cob popcorn from Hyde Park. “We really like to support Utah people and our local economy,” Krusi said.

Along with the samples, games were held every half hour of show for prizes ranging from turkeys to fruit baskets. “My favorite game to watch was turkey bowling. There’s just something funny about watching a giant frozen turkey knocking over bowling pins,” assistant manager Scott Phillips said.

Another popular game was “fastest texter” where shoppers had to text in a correctly spelled message as quickly as their thumbs would go. The messages used words such as poinsettia and wassail which were difficult for some customers. “Poinsettia is a tricky one,” shopper Tara Reeves said.

In the sit-down deli, Christmas movies were playing for kids to enjoy along with free cups of popcorn as their parents finished their shopping. Check-out lines were busy during the show as customers took advantage of the five-hour sale items such as $1.59 gallons of milk and $.99 loaves of bread.

“The holiday food show really does help us out throughout the holiday season. It gets people interested in new items and excited to shop,” Krusi said.

Published in cooperation with the Hard News Cafe. Original story is here.