Something holey has returned to West Chester and once you’ve tasted freshly made Goshen Donuts, you may never look at a donut the same way again. Goshen Donuts will be available every night, starting at 6 p.m. at the 62nd Goshen Country Fair at the Goshen Fairgrounds. The fair, located just off West Chester Pike and Ellis Lane, runs through August 6th.
These are not your average donuts; they are flavorful and resemble a sweet cake consistency instead of a boring ring of fried dough. These delicious morsels are available in plain, cinnamon and sugar and powdered sugar and are sold solo, by the half dozen or dozen (trust me you will want to stock up big time).
New to the fair this year are the Goshen Nuggets, bite size donuts which make a perfect snack for the fair and come in six or fifteen pieces.To keep up with the demand last year, volunteers made between 4,000-4,500 dozen donuts for the fair. After the amusement rides, Goshen Donuts is the highest grossing booth. People travel from other states travel for these donuts and every year the cashiers hear salivating comments such as, “I love these donuts” or “I look forward to these every year”.
Goshen Donut Manager, Nancy Stalnaker, said she has ordered 75 50-pound bags of donut dough for this year’s fair and joked that few people purchase donut dough by the ton. Due to the popularity of Goshen Donuts, they have upgraded the equipment to make donuts even faster. The latest machines crank out 60 dozen donuts per hour, one dozen per minute. Dedicated volunteers hustle to keep up with the production line.
Goshen Donuts is run entirely by shifts of volunteers (all ages invited) who make the donuts each day starting at noon and into the late evening. Throughout the week, they are always looking for help making and selling the donuts, and cleaning up at the end of the night. To volunteer, just write on their facebook wall or send a message to Nancy Stalnaker (she is an admin to the online group).
After the donut dough is mixed, it gets poured into the top of the donut machines. These fast-moving machines drop 3” rings of dough into a vat of oil, where they float for two minutes and travel down the finishing line. Volunteers “pick” the donuts using a long wooden spear and place them onto trays. Warm donuts get coated in cinnamon and sugar and cold donuts get rolled in powdered sugar.
Goshen Donuts have grown into a community tradition and have come full circle for the Stalnaker family. Nancy’s parents were some of the original donut makers and both of her parents still volunteer for the fire company.
“Two or three days ago, my dad was helping us out and he had to leave because a two or three alarm fire went off. Houses are a lot safer than they used to be, but things happen,” said Nancy. “and because we do this, there is people and equipment to go put it out and help minimize the damage and put their lives back together faster.”
Nancy always attended the fair as a child and she picked her first donut at age seven. During the first week in August almost every year since, she has continued to eat, sleep, and dream about donuts. This year, she became the Goshen Donut Manager.
During the summer of 1982, the Goshen Fire Company introduced their donuts to the fair for $1.25 a dozen and they have been a hit ever since. The Goshen Country Fair and its beloved Goshen Donuts are some of the biggest fundraisers for the Goshen Fire Company. Since 1950, the Goshen Fire Company has provided continuous fire protection services and fire police services to the residents of East Goshen Township and surrounding townships.
Join the Goshen Donuts facebook group (I love Goshen Donuts) to find out when and where these delightful donuts will be making their next appearance. Support your local fire company by picking up a delicious dozen of Goshen Donuts, the fair is one of the few places you can get these donuts during the year, so get them before the tents go down!
