This year's Derrick Days met with success

Apr. 30—"Derrick Days 2024 is in the books, and we are proud to report that it was a total success," said Derrick Days guru, Lori Haynie. "The weather had us very worried at the onset, but it worked out beautifully with many even reporting their first sunburn of the season."

Derrick Days is Corsicana's biggest annual event, having started in 1976 to celebrate Corsicana's rich and storied oil history. Plans are being discussed to include more of that history for future Derrick Days as some collections have presented that capability. The board and committee are looking forward to presenting some of the history through tools and equipment as well as a pictorial element.

Derrick Days is planned and put in motion with a relatively small group of community members that dedicate a lot of time and effort into the event, and they are all volunteers. Meetings and planning start each year in November with monthly meetings culminating in every week in April up to the last week before the festival. "It always impresses me when the festival hits and everything is ready and in place just like this amazing group of people agreed on and planned. The dedication is impressive and much appreciated," said Carey Dean, Derrick Days President.

Carey Dean pointed out that Derrick Days is also associated with another part of our community history with the Haynie family. The festival saw some years where it was not exactly living up to its potential when Brad Haynie stepped up to help the festival grow into a modern-day success. Brad sadly passed away in 2022 and his wife and right hand, Lori took the reins to continue the work that she and Brad had enjoyed together through the years dedicated to the success of the festival.

"Derrick Days is Latin for The Haynies," said Carey Dean. A privately funded statue is soon to be erected in honor of Brad's dedication to the festival and the community that he was more than proud to serve.

Derrick Days 2024 featured some of the very same elements that have been there from the beginning like nearly 100 vendors, nearly 30 food trucks and or booths including for the last few years, a Texas State Fair legend, Fletcher's Corn Dogs. The festival has always featured the chili cookoff and has grown through the years to include not only chili, but beans and brisket as well and that continues to draw serious competitors from around the state and beyond.

The festival's car show was reinvented a few years ago with the addition of Justin Bell as the ringleader, and it has grown each year into a class showing of all things automotive and included some very high end cars this year.

Music continues to be a big draw at the festival and bands and artists come in from all over the state to play for the crowds at Derrick Days and now features a battle of bands from our local radio station, 106.9 The Ranch. His year's winner was from Hill County, and they are called, Ghosts of Hill County.

The City of Corsicana featured a Foam Party for the kiddos this year and it proved to be widely popular along with children's activities and jump houses set up right outside of their Pocket Park location.

Derrick Days is the last weekend of April each year and the ideas and planning start even before the beginning of each year's festivities which tells us the dedication and drive are first and foremost top of mind for this group of community volunteers.

The board and committee invite those that would like to help or bring new and fresh ideas to the table to come forth and be a part of the excitement that goes into next year's festival and all that it brings to this community reunion and celebration.

The organizers would like to thank each everyone that enjoyed Derrick Days 2024 and they want you to know that you can expect bigger and better next year.

Additionally, competition remained heavy for this weekend's Derrick Days competitions, with big stakes and bigger winners for the 42 Tournament, Car Show, and Days Chili and BBQ Cook-Off. All winners for those events are listed below:

Winners of the 42 tournament (12 teams total):

First place — Danny Andrews and Marcus Janak.

Second place: Danny Kincaid andJeff Schaffner.

Derrick Days 2024 Car Show Winners

Best Motorcycle: Richard Smith-1985 ATC 250 R

Best Import: Zachary Compton-2019 Honda Civic

Best 4X4: Rueben Frye-2022 Ford F250

Best Pre-1955: Jack Bell-1931 Ford Model A

Best Muscle 55-78: Jerome Davis-1969 El Camino

Best Modern Muscle 1979+: Eric Hancock-2022 Cadillac

Most Unique: Jim Moore-1925 Model T

Best Street Truck Pre-1987: Larry Lewis-1966 Chevrolet C10

Best Street Truck: 1988+ Donnie Walker-1990 Chevrolet 454 SS

Best Exotic: Robert Blease-2019 McLaren 570S

Best Paint (Sponsored by Xtreme Kleen Auto Detail): Chuck Rash-1958 Chevrolet 3100

Best Patina (Sponsored by Sweet Patina): James Sinclair-1938 Ford

Best in Show: James Selman-1968 Dodge Dart GTS

46th Annual Derrick Days Chili and BBQ Cookoff

Chili Submissions Judged: 59 entries

1 Becky Whitmire, Maypearl

2 David Whitmire, Maypearl

3 Lonnie Broome, Corsicana

4 David Johnson Sr., Hewitt

5 David Ragsdale, Corsicana

6 Dan White, Corsicana

7 Aaron Montgomery, Corsicana

8 Mary Cook, Corsicana

9 Jimmy Rash, Corsicana

10 Brenda K Johnson, Hewitt

Bean: 39 entries

1 Lonnie Broome, Corsicana

2 Madison Bartee, Ennis

3 Thomas Bartee, Ennis

4 Matt Scoggins. Blooming Grove

5 Lisa Broome, Corsicana

6 Matt Jolly, Corsicana

7 Aaron Montgomery, Corsicana

8 Mike McCarter, Corsicana

9 Madison Dickerson, Corsicana

10 Robbie Lambert, Corsicana

Brisket: 51 entries

1 Matt Scoggins, Corsicana

2 Danny Hayes, Kerens

3 Cris Brooks, Barry

4 Franck Degueure, Kerens

5 Nathan Foote, Gun Barrel City

6 Ty Cantu, Corsicana

7 April Loewe, Corsicana

8 David Hawthorne, Keller Corsicana

9 Wyndell Gore, Corsicana

10 Lonnie Broome, Corsicana