Vidalia onions, a ‘sweet’ tradition

Shriners carry on a “sweet” tradition of selling Vidalia onions each year as an annual fundraiser for their organization and local Shriners will be kicking off their sales on May 4 around Checotah and Eufaula.

Shriner Andy Killingsworth stated that their chapter would be selling the onions in four places again this year:

• Outside of the Checotah Masonic Temple

• Outside The Bird’s Nest (Jerry Grant’s place) across from Checotah Post Office

• At Nelson’s Feed Store in Eufaula

• At Eastside Texaco (Gary Griffin’s place) on Texanna Rd

“Our local Shriners will be setting up in several places around Mc-Intosh County and will be selling bags of Vidalia onions until we are sold out,” Killingsworth said. “These are a very sweet tasting onions and it’s been a tradition with the Shriners to sell these onions for over 50 years. So we hope everyone comes out to help support our chapter which helps children in our local area and state.”

Over 500 bags of sweet onions come from a farm owned by the Shriners in Vidalia, Georgia each year. The Vidalia Sweet Onion is as sweet as a Valencia Orange with a natural sugar content of 12.5%. This unique characteristic makes it a gourmet delight in most dishes.

Another sweet fact about Vidalia onions is that this sweet onion can only be called a “Vidalia Sweet Onion” if it is grown in one of twenty specific counties designated by the Vidalia Onion Act of 1986, which was named for the city where it was first discovered. Then in 1990, the Vidalia onion was also named Georgia’s official state vegetable.

So don’t miss out on this sweet deal that also supports a great cause.