12th annual Tomato Sandwich Day held

Tomato sandwiches used to gross me out -- until my mother finally convinced me to try it one afternoon many years ago at Topsail Beach. Now I associate slices of tomato tucked in between two pieces of white bread with mayonnaise and pepper to boot as a Southern toast to summer.

And though I work just a couple of blocks from the Legislative Building in Raleigh, I had no idea that our esteemed General Assembly members celebrate this Southern summer sandwich with a "day" of its own.

But that's what happened recently on Jones Street: the 12th annual Tomato Sandwich Day.

"It’s fitting that on one of the hottest days of the summer, senators, representatives, staff members and lobbyists lined up outside of a Legislative Building committee room for a chance to munch down on tomato sandwiches, complete with salt and pepper," said this article from the Kinston Free Press. "Olive oil was available for those who wanted it.

"Sen. Hugh Webster, an Alamance County Republican who is responsible for the event, calls it the 12th-annual tomato sandwich fest.

"It’s become a tradition at the General Assembly. One day, every year, Webster brings tomatoes with all the fixings. He got eight boxes of German Johnson tomatoes from Iseley Farms in Alamance County. He bought 50 loaves of Bunny Bread. Senate President Pro-tem Marc Basnight, a Dare County Democrat, added a tone of bipartisanship to the event. He brought in three gallons of Duke’s Mayonnaise."

“ 'It crosses all boundaries,' Webster said, noting that sometimes animosities fester in the halls of political power. 'I specifically make it a point to try to invite everybody.' "

Webster told the Free Press that he plans to continue the tradition as long as he’s in the General Assembly.