East Texas City Offers Smaller Version of Concrete Tomatoes

JACKSONVILLE (AP) – An East Texas city that’s the self-proclaimed home of 665-pound concrete tomatoes has offered smaller versions of the inedible artwork. The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce this week began selling 175-pound concrete hunks in the shape of tomatoes. President Peggy Renfro said Tuesday that the bigger undecorated versions were so popular that chamber officials have about 40 smaller ones available at $150 apiece. Chamber officials sold more than 335 of the larger concrete tomatoes since the paint-it-yourself artwork was unveiled in 2012. Those cost $250 apiece. Renfro says people are very competitive when they want to decorate the tomato-shape concrete blocks that can be seen throughout Jacksonville. The city’s 31st annual Tomato Fest is set for June 13.