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CRYSTAL FALLS -- For 19 years, Crystal Falls residents have been honoring mushrooms.

The annual Humungus Fungus Festival kicked off on Friday.  So what's so special about mushrooms?

"Where the humungus fungus came from is there is actually a humungus mushroom under the ground.  It's actually in Mastodon Township, which is still in the Crystal Falls area, and that's where the celebration came from," says Crystal Fall's Business Association Vice President Cory Roell.

And there's a  lot of activities at the festival.  The rain did put a damper on the sidewalk sales this afternoon, but guests were still browsing indoors at the citywide rummage sale and buying pasties to support the high school's booster club.  The festival is something that many residents look forward to.

"It's fun to go with your friends.  It's something to do," says Maria Demuri.

One of the biggest events of the weekend?

The making of a pizza....ten feet long and ten feet wide.  Organizers were hard at work setting up the makeshift kitchen Friday afternoon.  And since the pizza is cooked outside, it can be hard to determine how long it will take to bake.

"We cook charcoal so we hope to be serving between 4:30 and 5:00.  Some years it's been 4:00, some years it's been 6:00.  You can't get it right down to a time, you know.  The weather depends on a lot of it--the humidity, the temperature, how much air the charcoal's getting, the wind direction, the wind speed...all those things play a factor into it," Roell decribes.

Even if you missed the pizza cookoff Friday, the fun still continues into Saturday with a strongman competition and a softball game at Runkle Lake.