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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1977-08-24, Page 3A history of the Bean Festival Popularity of This is the twelfth 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 undertaking. Close to 3,000 people came, in- cluding a couple from Bir- mingham, Michigan, in a 1923 Model T Ford coupe. Six hundred pounds of beans were served. Forty women cooked and served the meal, which cost $1 and in- cluded beans, cold 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 farms 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 6,00 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. manufac- tured 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 Area it provides scholarship - One r i One deserving Ontario 4-H Member who enters the University of - Guelph's Arricultural Degree Program in 1978, will win a $500 scholarship this fall. This scholarship- is awarded by Stewart Seeds in ' com- memoration of the -Ontario Agricultural Colleges Centennial. It was first presented in the College's Centennial year when it was won by Darryl Mitchell of Middlesex County. The recipient in 1975 was Terry Laidlaw of Peel County and most recently, the scholarship was awarded to 'Brenda Trask of Wellington County. These past recipients were selected because they exhibited outstanding leadership through , their participation in 4-11 and Junior Farmer programmes as well as community activities. To qualify for the award in 1978, the applicant must: a) Be entering the Agricultural Degree Program at the University of Guelph. b) Be a member of the Ontario 4-14 Programme. c) Achieve a minimum of 66 percent in their Grade 13 High School studies: Ontario 4-1.1 members can obtain applications from the office of the Agricultural Representative in each County and District of Ontario. Applications are also available by writing Stewart Seeds, P.O. Box 40, Ailsa Craig, Ontario NOM 1AO. To be considered, ap- plications must be received by September 30, 1977. .:Over 80 Club • Mrs. Matilda Tetreau of Zurich is celebrating her 92nd birthday ' today, Thursday, August 25. t, 0 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 appearance with about half their group in attendance", this paper reported. Bill Brady of Lon- don'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. Citizens News, August 24, 1977 Page 3 beans never changes 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 im- personate 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 rum- mage sale, run by the LionsClub at the arena, also proved popular. Music was provided by The Acadians, the German -Canadian Band of London, and Zurich's own band. 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 program included the queen contest, a horseshow tour- nament, a variety show and a dance in the arena to the music of the Mercey Brothers and the Harbourlites. 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 WHERE ARE MY BEANS? — Six-year-old Dwayne Overholt of Zurich got ready for his bean dinner a little ahead of time. With as many as 20,000 visitors expected at the Bean Festival, he liked the idea of a 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 midnight. 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 Q ueen, 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 tour- nament in the park and checker and solo competitions in the Township 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. 11( Saturday, August 22, 1970 - fifth Bean Festival A crowd of over 10,000 came to town for the festival this time. 4( 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 take- out cartons. By 5 pm 1,000 pounds of cold ham was gone and the committee had to send ex- peditions to lHensall, Dashwood 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 at- traction was a bean -eating contest between community officials from Zurich and Dash- wood, 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 head -start. The salad set also has standard -size knife and fork. about 8 pm, when a thunderstorm broke. Entertainment 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 in- stalled. 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 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 pan- cakes for breakfast. The a better loading capacity than a Staff photo 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 en- tertainment 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 break- fast 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 aga,"n, 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.