If you've been to the Manheim Farm Show and you're a fan of potatoes, you've probably sampled the french fries at the farm show's stand a time or two. This year, the spuds will be served from a brand-new, permanent building that replaces the temporary trailer used in the past.

To make sure things run smoothly during the busy farm show week, organizers will host a trial run of the stand on Sunday, Oct. 5, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. The stand will be located in the spot where the trailer was set up, directly behind the Manheim Borough ballfield concession stand across from Manheim Central High School, 400 E. Adele Ave.

"We ask that people are patient with us if they come to the trial run," said Nicole Burkholder, one of the members of the french fry committee. "Bear with us as we adjust to the changes and serve you fries."

Nothing tastes better than Manheim Farm Show french fries, she said, noting that they are made with locally grown potatoes, fresh cut on the spot and fried in lard.

In 2024, the farm show went through six tons of potatoes during the course of the week, said Glenn Stoltzfus, former president of the farm show. He added that several individuals help to purchase the potatoes as a donation, improving the french fry stand profits.

"We're excited to have a new building for our french fry stand, a permanent stand," Burkholder said. "In the past, we used to have a trailer, and every year, we had to set it up and tear it down. It was a lot of work. This will be so much more convenient."

The building also has plenty of room to store supplies year-round. Plans began on the new building last summer, with farm show building and grounds committee members designing the building, obtaining permits and collecting bids from construction companies. The farm show applied for the Fairs Capital Improvement Grants Program, receiving matching funds to build the new structure.

What may just be a tasty treat to farm show attendees actually supplies much-needed funds for farm show operations, Burkholder said. Last year, french fry sales raised close to $70,000.

While the building will sell both french fries and beverages during the farm show, the trial run will only offer fries, which will be available by cash donation.

"We wanted a trial run to get the flow down since it's a different setup than we're used to," Burkholder explained, noting that the farm show is run by volunteers. "We have a great team of people who are working together to organize the farm show."

More help is always welcome and needed. People who are interested in volunteering can learn more at http://www.manheimfarmshow.org/volunteers or by searching for "Manheim Community Farm Show" on Facebook.

The 71st annual Manheim Farm Show will be held Monday, Oct. 6, through Friday, Oct. 10.