New Hamburg Picnic delivers on traditions

NEW HAMBURG, Mo. -- The line of people waiting to fill their plates with fried chicken and kettle beef stretched around the parish hall and through the parking lot Saturday night at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg.

Across the street under a temporary city of tents were games, rides and a petting zoo to complete the annual New Hamburg Picnic.

It's a tradition that's been going on since 1926, although it stopped briefly during World War II and for a few years in the 1960s, event organizer Pat Moore said.

"We have some people who have lived here that come back to visit at the picnic every year. It's just a tradition," Moore said.

Children come for the turtle races and to play with the baby animals in the petting zoo while their parents catch up with old friends.

More than 150 children came through the petting zoo at the picnic Friday night, and petting zoo coordinator Joe Dirnberger said Saturday usually draws even larger numbers of children. Animals on display included 3-week-old piglets, calves, goats, a miniature donkey, sheep and plenty of puppies and kittens.

"We got to take a kitten home last night for free," said 7-year-old Breanna Backfisch, who said the petting zoo was her favorite part of the picnic.

Washer and horseshoe tournaments also drew a crowd during the picnic, with 13 teams playing horseshoes and 16 teams playing washers.

For the first time this year, bingo was part of the picnic.

Perhaps the greatest tradition of the New Hamburg Picnic is the smorgasbord dinner, served Saturday night in the parish hall.

"Col. Sanders ain't got nothing on us," said Dennis Kern as he emptied a deep fryer basket full of fried chicken.

About 800 pounds of chicken were fried up for the picnic using about 60 gallons of oil, said Henry Beussink, head of the chicken-frying team.

As they cook, the frying crew members often take a break to sample the chicken for themselves.

"You gotta taste it to make sure it's good," said Beussink, grabbing a chicken leg."You've gotta make sure it's not too salty."

Volunteers started cooking at 8 a.m. Saturday, making everything for the dinner from scratch, from rolling out dumplings to mixing up the special slaw dressing.

"Everything's just passed down from generation to generation," said dinner chairwoman Dorothy Heuring, who expected to feed about 850 people.

Parish members also brought in more than 50 cakes, including chocolate, strawberry, banana and even pineapple upside-down cake.

"The ones that are homemade are the first to get grabbed up," dessert table volunteer Kari Bickings said.

mmiller@semissourian.com

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Pertinent Address: 1017 State Highway A, New Hamburg, MO