Mon Sep 10, 10:27 AM ET

This September 2005 photo provided by Okra Strut shows the large, inflatable Okra Man mascot looming over the Okra Strut in Irmo, S.C. The festival, started in 1973 as the outgrowth of a radio DJ's joke about Irmo's love for the slimy green vegetable, now draws about 50,000 people — close to five times the population of the town itself. (AP Photo/Okra Strut, Scott Krause)

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