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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-08-17, Page 25Past bean festivals This is the thirteenth annual Bean Festival at 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 only 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 beans were ser- ved. Forty women cooked and served the meal, which cost $1 and included beans, Gold pork, cole slaw, tomatoes and rolls. They ran out of cold pork by 6 p.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 Chandaliers." 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 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 Schilbe, 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 - eight 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 oiT.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 An 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 horseshow 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 and 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 and2,000 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. Outside, the horseshoe 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 Harbourlites. 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, were crowded from early morning till late at night. Proceeds from the festival went into a fund for arena repairs. There was a pie -eating contest and a frog -jumping contest. Elmer Hohl, world champion horseshoe pitcher, carried off the honours again, though he had stiff competition from a young Kitchener boy. This was also the year of the bean cart. The rubber wheeled cart with two trays, made to order by Bendix, ended for volunteers 10 years of dodging through the crowd with hot roasting pans of beans. Now visitors had to dodge the cart, but got their dinners faster. August 27, 1977 - twelfth Bean Festival There seems to be no limit to the success of the event as over 15,000 people jammed into the village to take in the twelfth annual festival. Needless to say, the visitors had a big appetite as they consumed two tons of beans, 200 pounds of sausages, 40 crates of chopped cabbage and 1,000 homemade pies. The 1977 Bean Queen was Tammy Baker of Hensall with Deb Creces and Pam O'Brien in the runnerup positions. In the frog jumping competition Dereck 1Y1cKinnon's entry took the contest with a leap of 53 inches. Winning in the horseshoe pitching competition were Elmer Hohl of Wellesley and Alex Boa of Goderich. Citizens News, August 24, 1978 age 13 TWO SPOONS ARE BETTER THAN ONE — While, it takes a lot of work before the famous Zurich bean festival beans can be eaten, if you're on the young side and like beans, practice in bean eating techniques doesn't hurt. Trying out his particular method is Bradley Eckel of the village. Staff photo Volunteers are backbone of bean festival The backbone to any successful community effort such as the bean festival is the willingness of local citizens to lend a hand when the need arises. At the bean festival about 150 people will be looking after the many parts that make up the festival. According to Betty Kirk who has been in charge of the kitchen help for the past few years, there comes a time when some anxiousness is experienced at to whether a sufficient number of volunteers will be secured but by the time the event rolls around . Mrs. Kirk said she could write a book --on the subject, "Why I can't help." Excuses offered have included high blood pressure, a sore toe and company coming. On Saturday morning, the day begins at 8 a.m. with mixing and cooking of the beans and the mixing of the coleslaw. Other volunteers will be slicing ham selling homecooked beans and coleslaw and manning the various ticket booths. Mrs. Kirk said any any readers who would like to help at the event but have not been asked, should turn up at the festival kitchen in the morning. The following is the list of volunteers to press time: 8:00 a.m. -10:30 a.m.: Bob Kirk, Oscar Greb, Bob Brown, Morris Webb, John Goldsmith, . Elwood Truemner, Donna O'Brien, Janet McKinnon, . Doris Goldsmith, Marion Livingston, Kay Webb, Marg Truemner. 10:30 a.m, - 1 p.m.: Carl Finkbeiner, Leo Hoffman, Herb Beirling, Harold Deichert, Murray McAdams, Nancy Brown, Carol Robson, Mary Haggitt, Valerie McLeod, Sue. Rader, Erla Smale. 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Bill Smith, Bill Bedour, Claire Deichert, Don Kirk, Ron Ducharme, Maddie `Smith, Betty Oke, Marg Deichert, Joyce Kirk, Betty Bedard. 3:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Orland Reichert, Ivan Reichert, Howard Adkins, Alf Denomme, Joe Denomme, Laurabelle Reichert, Helen Thompson, Joyce Adkins, Leona Reichert, Doreen Denomme. 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: David Blackwell, Stewart Black- well, Mark Wilds, Bob Dietrich, John Geiger, Grace Schwartzentruber, Irene Blackwell, Ursula Regier, Barb Hoffman, Marilyn Geiger. Supper sandwiches Have you ever considered sandwiches for supper? Open-faced sandwiches are a snap to prepare and with a little imagination can be in- viting and exciting. They should be `pretty as a picture' with any combina- tion of fish, meat, eggs, fruits or vegetables arrang- ed for both taste and eye appeal. When assembling yours tonight, keep these pointers in mind. • use thinly sliced bread, with or without the crusts and evenly buttered right to the edge. • spread or. place filling evenly around the bread. • use ingredients with con- trasting colors and har- monizing flavors. • decorate with colorful gar- nishes. THE TASTE TEST -- If one is about to feed 15,000 people its a good idea to make sure what you're feeding tastes good. While Mrs. Orlen Schwartzentruber looks on, Jack Hamilton per- forms the task. Staff photo