Submitted photo A long line of fairgoers wait for the Chief Logan Lions Club’s French fries at the Mifflin County Youth Fair Thursday night.

REEDSVILLE — Gilbert “Gib” Fisher has served up a lot of potatoes during his tenure with the Chief Logan Lions Club, but he’s never seen a French fry frenzy like this.

At least not like the Mifflin County Youth Fair, which is being held at the Mifflin County Youth Park, Reedsville, this week.

“We’ve had 10, 15 to 20 people in line all evening,” said Fisher, who joined the Lions Club in the 1970s. His father and grandfather were charter members.

The Burnham man is one of the Lions Club members who has manned the fryer in the Lions’ French fries wagon.

The Lions Club expects to serve well over 1,000 pounds of fries at the week-long fair. On social media, the Lions Club promoted sales by encouraging fairgoers to grab “some delicious, world famous” fries.

Judging by the number of potatoes sold, the promotion is working.

“We use new potatoes when they’re available,” he said, alluding to the secret to what makes the fries so tasty. “I think it’s also the way we cook them in canola oil.

“We’ve been doing this for so long, I think we’ve gained a reputation over the years,” he added.

Inside the Lions Club’s wagon, fries are cooked over three burners, which have two baskets each rotated. “I dump them every couple of minutes,” Fisher said.

A generous serving of fresh cut fries, which are deep fried in 100 percent canola oil and using locally sourced potatoes, costs $4.

Drawing crowds like they’ve had this week at the youth fair also makes the fries better because “they’re always fresh,” Fisher boasts. “It’s better when you have a crowd like that.”

The pounds of potatoes sold this week would make Mr. Potato Head’s head spin. Despite some inclement weather, fairgoers bought about 400 pounds of potatoes on Tuesday, another 450 to 500 pounds sold on Wednesday and roughly 400 pounds Thursday. “That’s exceptional,” Fisher said.

Patrons asked for cheese sauce to dip their fries in, so the Lions Club offered it this week as a test at the youth fair for an additional $1. It was such a big hit on the first night that the cheese sold out in just over 90 minutes. The Lions Club got more, doubling the amount in stock the second night.

Typically, the fries come plain, so the Lions Club provides salt, vinegar or ketchup to patrons.

The Lions Club started out selling fries in the 1960s out of a box truck. They bought the old Mifflin County Library truck around the 1970s, converting it to a food wagon.

“We opened up one side and sold fries right out of that,” Fisher said.

The Lions Club went to the current wagon in the late ’70s. “There’s more room, more spacious,” Fisher said. “With the two trucks, tall people could hardly stand up. We came up with the idea of the French fry trailer.

“We’ve made a lot of money with that over the years, and we’ve also given a lot of money away,” he added of their community service projects.

In the early years, fries were sold in different-sized cups, or cones. A small cone cost 15 cents, while a large one went for a quarter. Today’s trays, or boats, are much more, but that’s everything in life.

The biggest problem the Lions Club have is staffing as there aren’t enough volunteers to keep up with demand.

The demand this week has caused a strain on the Lions Club, which like many civic organizations is struggling for members. “We’re strapped for help,” Fisher said. “We have three crews who work two nights. I’m the only one available to work Saturday, so I had to find people.”

For more information about joining the Lions Club, find their page on Facebook.