Fans Camp Out for Free Chick-fil-A

One hundred and forty…that’s the number of people who lined up outside the new Chick-fil-A in Leesburg Wednesday morning as early as 5 a.m. Although the restaurant isn’t scheduled to open until Thursday, fans of all ages arrived a day early for their chance to win a year’s worth of Chick-fil-A meals.

“We had a police officer stay overnight just to keep them off the property,” said Event Planner Angie Slifer. “We want to make sure this stays fair. If we have more than 100 [people] waiting for us then we do a raffle. We had 140 people so we raffled off the first 100.”

Among them was Kris Ragsdale who was winner number 59.

“I came all the way from Chester, Va., over 200 miles, to come to Chick-fil-A. It’s my first event and I won. So excited,” Ragsdale said. “My daughter loves Chick-fil-A. She’s eight years old and we’ll probably use all of our coupons in a month, to be honest. I like 'chickin'.”

Joining her were other alumni from Virginia State University including Renee Reed and Daryl Moody.

“We got here at 5:30 a.m.,” Moody said, a Gainsville, Va. resident who has gone to eight of Chick-fil-A’s grand opening events. Although he wasn’t one of the winners on Wednesday he formed a pact with his friends who did. If two people come together and only one person gets in you split the win, he said.

“This is the first time I have not been chosen but it’s fun,” Moody said. “Chick-fil-A, they take care of you out here. They feed you and the games and activities that they have are pretty fun."

Leesburg resident Ryan Madden said he didn’t win either but that doesn’t mean he won’t support the local restaurant.

“I’m excited to have one here,” Madden said. “I’ve done the openings twice before and I got the coupons so I figured I could get them again.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t. However, Madden said he planned on camping out with his friends who will hopefully share the wealth.

Virginia Beach resident Louise Pearson will have plenty of sandwiches to go around. Both she and her husband extended their Thanksgiving vacation just to attend the opening event with their daughter, Kris Markovich and 14-year-old grandson from Fairfax. The entire family won.

“It’s an adventure and it’s fun,” Pearson said, who’s been to four opening events at Chick-fil-A. Her favorite items are the milkshakes and salads with raspberry vinaigrette. “The food is very good. It’s fast food with a healthy twist.”

“I really love how friendly everybody is in the restaurant,” Markovich said. “You walk in and it’s, ‘Can we refresh your beverage’, ‘Thank you’, ‘It’s my pleasure’. It’s just great customer service.”

Local resident Michael Nerantzis also won on Wednesday.

“I am ecstatic that I won,” he said. “I have a deep, devoted passion to Chick-fil-A and their food is the best. I’m glad they finally came to Leesburg.”

Winners are expected to stay on site until 6 a.m. Thursday morning when they will finally be awarded their free meals. Until then, a DJ will entertain, games will be played and free Chick-fil-A meals will be served throughout the day.

A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled to take place on Thursday at 9 a.m. The restaurant, located next to Kohls at 1002 Edwards Ferry Rd Ne, will officially open to the public at 6 a.m. Normal business hours will be Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.  

“We’re so happy the community is so supportive,” Slifer said. “[Everyone] has been cheering when they see us walk in with our Chick-fil-A nametags on and we just really feel the support of this community. We’re very excited to be here.”