By Daniel Lapham/Staff Writer
published May 7, 2008

Business owners, police and organizers agree Saturday’s 20th annual Fried Onion Burger Day was the biggest and best one yet.

“I have had so many phone calls,” said Codie Finnigan, Main Street director. “All of the retail stores have said they did well. My phone has been ringing off the hook with vendors wanting to pay in advance to reserve their space for next year. I mean it was a record Burger Day on many fronts. We sold out of burgers by 6 o’clock. That is a first.”

Approximately 32,500 people attended throughout the day, Finnigan said. Approximately 300 volunteers gave 3,560 hours of their time to make this the biggest festival to date.
As his second Burger Day as El Reno’s city manager, Tony Rivera said this is only the beginning.

“I thought it was terrific. I think it was a total success in every way,” he said. “I spoke to our staff and they felt the volunteer staff was perfect in terms of numbers. I think families felt safe. The biggest plus for me is the positive atmosphere and the feeling it created for our community members.”

The safe atmosphere Rivera mentioned also exceeded Police Chief Ken Brown’s expectations.

“We had no incidents this year. I would say this was one of the more successful years we have had in terms of incidents,” Brown said.