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