LEMOORE -- When the clock ticked past 4 p.m., a 9-foot pizza was rolled out to a vacant lot.

And in a usual manner, 30 pounds of mozzarella was dropped from the sky onto it before a crowd of cheering spectators to mark the highlight of the day.

"You have to do it," said Lemoore Chamber of Commerce CEO Linda Lahodny, "because it's tradition."

For the eighth year, Lemoore fulfilled that small-town tradition Saturday at the culmination of the Central Valley Pizza Festival.

Organizers were happy with the turnout.

"It just gets bigger and better every year with all kinds of new activities," said Lahodny.

The event kicked off Friday night with a concert at the downtown arbor plaza. Saturday's event featured various activities all day long, such as an RV show and circus.

But the event is about pizza after all.

This year, Fatte Albert's Pizza from Hanford put on a pizza-eating contest. There was a demonstration by a world champion dough tosser from Columbus, Ohio. And of course, the main piece of the event Saturday was the giant 9-foot pizza creation, in which some 16 teams representing businesses and schools participated.

For Lemoore, the pizza summarizes the symbol of its pride as well as its agricultural prosperity.

All the key ingredients are found in plentiful supplies in this agricultural heartland: Milk for mozzarella, tomato for the paste, wheat for the dough -- and cheerful community members, lots of them.

"It really is symbolic of our agricultural industry," Lahodny said. "Everything that is used to make pizza is produced here. Lemoore is home to world's largest mozzarella manufacturer, Leprino Foods, and SK Foods, which is a large tomato processing plant. Our two biggest industries are pizza-related."

The festivities will continue today from noon to 5 p.m. There will be E&M reptile family show at 1 p.m. and pizza Olympics at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The winner of the pizza creation contest Saturday was the Save Mart team.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

(April 20, 2008)