Just inside the gates of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration show grounds in Shelbyville, the aroma of doughnuts wafts above the smell of sawdust and horses.

Since 1960, Shelbyville Optimist Club has been serving the world-famous doughnuts that have drawn the taste buds of millions over the past six decades.

You can only purchase the deep-fried and glazed doughnuts during the 10-day show, which begins two weeks before Labor Day and spotlights Tennessee walking horses. And to many, the doughnuts are as memorable as the show.

“Growing up going to the Celebration was always something we looked forward to every year,” said Mandy Pinion, of Eagleville, who has been attending the show since she can remember. “Getting to hang out with friends, trying to pick the winners and eating fried doughnuts are core memories that will last my lifetime.”

For civic and nonprofit organizations throughout Shelbyville, the TWHNC is a big money-maker. Each club sells a variety of concessions, like burgers from the football boosters to cotton candy sold by the band, and doughnuts from the Optimist Club.

The doughnuts were late-comers to the concession lineup, however.

After the Shelbyville Optimist Club was formed in 1958, members wanted in on the revenue action. The TWHNC board told the group they’d need to come up with a unique product to sell. Clubs were already selling foods like hot dogs, candy apples and burgers.

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In 1959, club member George Baker, who sold breakfast and lunch to factory workers from his mobile food service, suggested they could sell the same doughnuts he made.

“He told them they could sell doughnuts and coffee and (club members) laughed at him,” said Brent Pewitt, who runs the doughnut booth operations.

By the next year’s Celebration, club members were a little more eager to listen to Baker’s idea. They approached the board, who agreed to the club’s plan.

Members expected to have a booth under the bleachers inside the Celebration like all the other groups. Instead, the board offered up a portion of a barn outside the arena gates. The club, which had a membership of 50 at the time, would have to do their own renovations to make the crude building usable.

So they poured a concrete floor, built a wall and put a window at the front.

“By the second night, the line was all the way to the road,” Pewitt said.

Doughnuts were 10 cents a piece or $1 for a dozen.

Popularity of the doughnuts grew, so club members approached the board and asked for additional space.

“They renovated that barn and then they built a kitchen on the back, probably in the late 1960s,” Pewitt said.