carnival14February 6, 2014

For the seventh year, Sal & Mookie’s New York Pizza and Ice Cream Joint is pulling out all the stops for a fun and festive old-fashioned carnival, all for the ‘chirren’ (as Sweet Potato Queen® Jill Conner Browne would say).

The Fondren pizzeria announced yesterday their intent to break out the games, dunking booth, face painting and even a Sweet Potato Tot pageant, hosted by Miss Mississippi, Chelsea Rick, on Saturday March 22 from 10am – 3pm. The carnival is part of Fondren’s Zippity Doo Dah® Weekend and takes place on the UMMC green space behind Sal & Mookie’s Taylor Street location.

A carnival favorite pizza and ice cream eating contest will return with adults and children alike vying for hundreds of dollars in gift certificate prizes.

Began in their parking lot spaces in 2008 as a celebration of the restaurant’s anniversary, the carnival soon morphed into a full-scale production, involving employees and their family members. The day became a part of Zippity Doo Dah® festivities when the Fondren Renaissance presented weekend began in 2011.

Restaurant co-owner Jeff Good says it’s a gift to the community and a gift to Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children, the beneficiary of the carnival’s silent auction and $2 armband entry fee. Over the past the past six years, Good and his business partner Dan Blumenthal have made thousands of dollars in donations to the state’s only children’s hospital.

For more on Sal & Mookie’s, visit SalandMookies.com. For more on Fondren’s Zippity Doo Dah® Weekend, visit Fondren.org. If you wish to volunteer to help with this year’s carnival, e-mail MaggieB@salandmookies.com OR sign up online HERE.

See photos from last year on our Facebook page