FARMINGTON – A sandwich making competition ushered in the grand opening of a new Subway restaurant Thursday evening, with three local legislators vying to earn money for three local organizations.
The Subway opened inside Walmart on the Wilton Road on Nov. 15, with co-owners Gary Hilliard and Melissa Karkos reporting brisk business. Hilliard, who owns two other sandwich shops, said that the Farmington restaurant represented the 2,500th Subway operating inside a Walmart in North America.
“It’s not a new thing, but it’s a new thing here,” Hilliard said. He added that the restaurant’s relationship with Walmart was “fantastic.”
Karkos, who is the general manager of local Subway restaurants in addition to the co-owner of the local store, said that the restaurant employs eight people.
The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce assisted the Subway with the ribbon cutting ceremony. The co-owners also hosted a sandwich making competition, asking Sen. Tom Saviello (R – Wilton), Rep. Russell Black (R – Wilton) and Rep. Lance Harvell (R – Farmington) to compete to raise money for three local organizations. Harvell chose Wilton Fish & Game, Saviello selected Western Maine Homeless Outreach, while Black chose the Children’s Task Force.
All three legislators were clocked at between two and three minutes, although onlookers, which included family members as well as Walmart and Subway staff reported the occasional error, as well as offering a lot of unsolicited advice. Carefully judging all three sandwiches, Hilliard and Karkos declared it a tie.
While saying he wasn’t certain all three legislators won or lost, Hilliard announced that all three organizations would receive $200.
