Zurich Citizens News, 1980-08-21, Page 10Page 10 Citizens News August 21, 1980
Bean festivals of previous years
This is the fifthteenth
annual Bean Festival in
Zurich. Highlights of the
others are given below :
August 27, 1966 - the first
Bean Festival
According to this
newspaper, the object of the
festival was to feed visitors
both beans and old-fashioned
French and German dishes.
The idea was to stress not
oply local produce but also
the ethnic origins of the
community.
Officials were astonished
at the success of their un-
dertaking. Close to 3,000
people came, ' including a
couple from Birmingham,
Michigan in a 1923 Model T
Ford coupe. Six hundred
pounds of ;jeans were ser-
ved. Forty women cooked
and served the meal, which
cost $1 and included beans
cold pork, cole slaw,
tomatoes and rolls. They ran
out of cold pork by6p.m. A
bus took visitors to Charles
Rau's bean farm north of St.
Joseph, where they travelled
On tractor -drawn wagons
through the fields. At night
there was a street dance to
"Bonnie and the Chan-
daliers." Festival money
bought artificial ice for the
arena.
August 31, 1967 - the second
Bean Festival
Between 6,000 and 7,000
visitors came and 4,000 of
them had bean dinners.
About 1,000 pounds of white
beans were cooked in two
large • bean cookers,
manufactured here and
engineered by Gerald
Gingerich; then they were
baked in ovens around town,
including the large one at the
Tasty -Nu Bakery. This time
50 women helped. The Zurich
Centennial Band, Ken
Ducharme and the
Bluewater Boys and local
talent, including the Zurich
Lions Majorettes provided
most of the entertainment.
The St. Marys Trumpet
Band "made a brief ap-
pearance with about half
their group in attendance,"
this paper reported. Bill
Brady of London's CFPL
COMMITTEE READY TO GO,— The Zurich Bean Festival Committee held one of their last meetings prior to the big event
which will take place on Saturday. Members of the committee are first vice-president Al Scott, second vice-
president Chuck Erb, president Birdie Finkbeiner, secretary Mary Haggitt and food convener Betty Kirk. Missing at the Tues-
day meeting was treasurer Nancy Lee. Staff photo
Look who's steajb
your electricity
A stove exhaust fan filter clogged with grease
and grime makes the fan motor work Longer
and harder to draw air through. Just soaking
the filter in mild soap or detergent will fix
this energy waster.
use Energy Wsely
Tune-up, clean up. It's simple. Appliances
that are clean and well -cared for Last Longer
and use Less electricity. Over the long run,
you can save money on appliance replace-
ment. And of course, the Less energy you
waste, the more dollars you save.
Grease and burnt -on food really reduce
your oven's efficiency. A clean oven
works better and uses less electricity.
Opening the oven door too often also
wastes valuable heat. If you have a
window in the oven door, keeping it see-
through cleat, can clear up the problem.
Don't waste yir energy.
°titan° hydro*
�c•R1R.•{$ 'dt °7-ktgd y{4,.;.f $i• "f
radio was master of
ceremonies for a four-hour
live broadcast. There were
horseshoe tournaments in
the park. Donald Oke did a
roaring trade in wooden
name plates and Claire
Geiger sold a great many
maple syrup sundaes.
Saturday, August 24, 1968 -
third Bean Festival
This was the first year a
Bean Queen was chosen. She
was Debbie Merner. The
festival program featured
wagon tours, a street
market, pony rides, a dance
in the arena at night, and a
fireworks display at mid-
night. By now, ham was
being served with the beans.
About 5,000 ate beans though
it was a hot humid day.
Saturday August 23, 1969 -
fourth Bean Festival
Donna Schitbe who had
been chosen Bean Queen,
went on a week later to
become Rodeo Queen at
Exeter. Because the crop
was late ripening, visitors
had no chance this year to
see beans combined on area
farms, but at least 5,000 of
the huge crowd ate beans.
Visitors also watched the
horseshoe tournament in the
park and checker and solo
competitions in the Town-
ship Hall. The hootenanny
singer, Jay Boyle, headed
the entertainment bill on the
portable stage, and the
Zurich Centennial Band also
played. The festival dance
had been " held the night
before, so things ended
Saturday with a fireworks
display.
Saturday, August 22, 1970 -
fifth Bean Festival.
A crowd of over 10,000
came to town for the festival
this time. About 1,000 of
them visited Green Acres
Farm, owned by Kenneth
Gascho, west of town, where
appropriately costumed
local talent were on hand to
impersonate characters in
the television show of the
same , name. Forty-two
ponies from area pony clubs
took part in races at the old
fairgrounds. A rummage
sale, run by the Lions Club at
the arena, also proved
popular. Music was provided
by The Acadians, the Ger-
man -Canadian Band of
London, and Zurich's own
band.
August 28, 1971 - sixth Bean
Festival
Well over 20,000 visitors
turned up. Among them were
50 members and families of
the National Campers'
Association, Stratford
Chapter, who camped at the
ball park. Nine thousand
bought bean dinners;
several more thousand, the
small takeout cartons. By 5
p.m. 1,000 pounds of cold
ham was gone and the
committee had to send ex-
peditions to Hensall, Dash-
wood and Grand Bend for
meat. A ton of beans had
been cooked.
The Lambton Youth
Theatre presented a play in
the park. There were also
harness pony races, trips to
Green Acres Farm and
horseshoe competitions.
Music was "provided .by a
group called "Katie and I"
and by the Little German
Band the Zurich Centennial
Band. A new attraction was
a bean -eating contest bet-
ween community officials
from Zurich and Dashwood.
It was a draw.
August 31, 1972 - seventh
Bean Festival
Again, a record crowd
.- ----^ ,
came, and again at least
9,000 bean dinners were sold.
One and one-half tons of
beans were cooked. This was
the year Gerry Gingerich
invented a cabbage cutter
from a stainless steel
washing -machine tub, the
machine's motor and some
Hobbart knives. The device
greatly reduced labour
needed' to make cole slaw.
Before, 15 women took 40
hours to chop up 50 cases of
cabbage; afterward, one
woman did it in four hours.
This was also the year the
Minor Athletic Association
began serving pancake and
sausage breakfasts. Five
hundred early birds ate
them. Ellen Horn, head cook
at the Blue Water Rest Home
played the role of Aunt
Jemima.
Fine weather prevailed till
about 8 p.m. when a thun-
derstorm broke. Enter-
tainment was provided by
"Katie and I" again and the
Zurich Centennial Band.
Teen-agers had a dance in
the arena at night.
August 25, 1973 - eighth Bean
Festival
The village was in a state.
Its sewage system was being
installed. Despite the
upheaval, an extra 1,000
people were here to eat
beans and 600 had pancake
breakfasts. A meat
specialist from the Ontario
Pork Institute Arthur Buck,
prepared various cuts, then
auctioned them off. There
were bingo games for adults,
bus tours to Green Acres
Farm, games for children
and a horseshoe tournament.
A country and western music
show, starring the Allan
Sisters and Al Cherny of the
Tommy Hunter show, wound
up the day, along with a
dance to the music of Gary
Buck's band.
August 29, 1974 - ninth Bean
Festival
Ari estimated 20,000 people
came and 8,000 had beans.
This time dinner cost $1.50
instead of $1. Inflation had
left its mark. Over 2,000
pounds of white beans were
cooked and more than a ton
each of ham and cabbage
was served. Five hundred
had pancakes for breakfast.
The program included the
queen contest, a horseshoe
tournament, a variety show
and a dance in the arena to
the music of the Mercy
Brothers and the Har-
bourlites.
August 23, 1975 - tenth Bean
Festival
This was the first time rain
threatened to spoil the day.
It started arid kept on, and
the air turned cool. That did
not stop the crowds from
coming. They ate their beans
in the arena and township
hall. Two thousand, 400
pounds were cooked and
2,000 pounds of ham sliced to
serve. The church groups
sold all their homemade
pies. The other concessions
did well, too. A program of
continuous entertainment
was held in the arena.
Outsides the horiesiNgs went
on in spite of all the rain. The
largest crowd ever attended
the dance that night, to the
music of the Molly McGuires
and the Harbourlltes.
August 28, 1976 - eleventh
Bean Festival
About 7,000 plates of beans
were served. The pancake
breakfast was popular, too.
Hungry early risers ate 200
pounds of sausages with
them. Four streets, closed to
form a mall for concessions
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