Today at Hobson Freedom Park in Fairborn, the 2nd annual Food Truck Mania Competition was held. The 92 92 acre park has a great set up for the food truck rally, with lots of space, plenty of free parking, a covered pavilion with lots of picnic tables and a permanent bathroom building. The park is named after former Ohio Congressman David Hobson, who helped secure the former Trebein Radar Site property for public use after it was no longer needed by the federal government. The land was transformed from a military installation into a public recreation facility. Their are playgrounds for the little ones and multiple soccer fields.
Over 30 food trucks participated in 3 categories: beverages, entrees and desserts. Three judges in each category taste tasted all the entries and voted for their favorites and the winner in each category walks with bragging rights and $1000 cash!
Ronald Jackson
The reigning champs from 2025 are all back, trying to defend their titles: The Food Pitt, Diamond Daiquiris and The Naughty Lobstah. Organizer Ronald Jackson said that he was thrilled with today’s weather, sharing that last year’s event was raining and about 30 degrees, so he knew the turn out would be so much better! Jackson also hosts a weekly Thursday night truck rally from 4 – 8pm through October.
At 7pm the winners were announced and all 3 categories had ties, so they dead a sudden death, recruiting some audience members to do a taste test and choose the champs.
2026 Winners:
Voted favorite beverage was Mama G’s Cool Treatz of Washington Court House. The Tea Trailer (Runner up)
The Best entree winner was Boss Hogg’s BBQ – who features Texas-style BBQ featuring beef brisket, pulled pork, southern sides, and dessert parfaits, based out of South Charleston, Ohio. His submission for the judges included a brisket slider, BBQ rib and macaroni and cheese. Hapi Hapi Oishii (Runner up)
Capping off the competition was Creme de la Creme, a family-owned business that make all their own ice cream & desserts, from Greenville. Pappi and Nana’s Treats (Runner up)
The People’s Choice Winner for Food Truck Mania 2016 was determined by the public voting over the internet for the last coupld of weeks. Over a a thousand internet votes were cast a to Bald Head Tone’s Kitchen was declared the winner. He’s know for creative comfort-food menu that blends wings, tacos, cheesesteaks, burgers, and loaded fries with bold flavors and generous portions. Today he offered a strawberry sauce on his wings that was quite tasty. The Food Pitt (Runner up)
Here are the trucks that participated today:
Dayton is no stranger to innovation, creativity, and reinvention—and now, there’s a new leader helping tell that story. As Destination Dayton President & CEO John Oney wraps up his first quarter on the job, we thought there was no better way to introduce him than through a casual Q&A.From his first impressions of Dayton to the vision he brings from his experience in destination marketing, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at the person and perspective guiding Dayton’s visitor economy forward.
Exploring the outdoors adventures at Five Rivers MetroParks and hitting the Great Miami Trail kicks things off for me. Of course, I’ll need to stay fueled up and I look forward to doing that at Milano’s, Old Scratch and The Foundry. I’m looking forward to my first Dayton Dragons game this summer along with checking out our amazing arts and culture scene. Then of course, there is pickleball. Looking forward to getting back on the courts asap.
That was a long time ago, so I traded in my golf clubs for a pickleball paddle. See you on the courts!
If someone is visiting Dayton for the first time, I think one experience they absolutely have to have is visiting the National Museum of the United States Air Force. It’s not only the largest military aviation museum in the world, but it also tells a powerful story about innovation, courage, and the role Dayton has played in shaping aviation history.
It’s time to stock your freezer! Young’s Jersey Dairy’s delicious homemade ice cream is on sale for $3.99 a pint!!
A brand new one day film festival launches at noon this Saturday in Yellow Springs. The Ohio Underground Film Festival will “showcase local films & filmmakers from the Dayton area that are making interesting and raw films on extremely low micro-budgets, and give them a showcase. I made a feature film last year in Yellow Springs for $1,200, and wanted to premiere it in the town it was filmed in, and then decided to build an entire event around that.”
There will be a rare screening of “Boiled Angels: The Story of Mike Diana” According to Bonacore, “this is a documentary about famed comic book artist Mike Diana who was arrested for his art in the 90’s. Its an extremely important film about censorship and art. Narrated by Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedy’s. Its unavailable on phyisical media or streaming and is an ultra rare screening I think will blow peoples minds.”
The final film of the fest will be the Ohio Premiere of Bonacore’s “Video Vixen”. Shot entirely in Yellow Springs in 2024-2025. A local adult content creator starts killing off all the local insufferable influencers. Shot on an old Hi 8 Camcorder. Staring the town of Yellow Springs. The film features a cast of locals who play various social media and influencer types who, without spoiling too much, find that their “10 seconds of fame are up,” as the movie’s tagline espouses. Included in the cast are aforementioned filmmaker Lola Betz, Little Art Theatre Manager Caleab Wyant and local hip-hop artist Tron “Tronee Threat” Banks, who Bonacore said plays the “rapping chief of police.”
Mar’Tae Kitchen & Cocktails
