St. Theodore Parish Picnic Features Live Music, Games of Chance and Lots of Tasty Treats

Rollicking live music from two bands, a vast array of tasty treats from fried chicken to snow cones plus games of skill and chance for all ages highlight the annual St. Theodore Parish Picnic starting at 11 a.m. and running until 7 p.m. today at the church picnic grounds, a stone’s throw from the intersection of Highway P and Grothe Road in Flint Hill.

The picnic, one of three annual events that raise the bulk of the money to support , is a tradition dating to at least 1906.

"You get people who say they came with their parents," St. Theodore priest said. "It’s like generations."

A newspaper account of the parish picnic in 1906 reported that "despite the threatening attitude of the weather and showers during the day, a large crowd attended."

A downpour and slight windstorm sent much of the crowd home around 5 p.m. that day, but a hearty hundred sought shelter and hung in there. While supper was rained out, "an elegant and bountiful dinner was served on the grounds and the table was well patronized during the lunch hour," the newspaper reported. "A most pleasant day was spent by all attending. The crowd as a whole was a thoroughly jovial and happy one, everyone seemingly trying to out-do each other in hospitality."

Vollmer said this year's goals emphasize living up to the 1906 soiree.

"We still want our dinner to be elegant and bountiful," he wrote in the church bulletin. Also on the agenda, he said, "We want to try and out-do each other in hospitality."

The 1906 article duly noted that 18 kegs of beer were consumed.

Picnic officers Angie Mutert and Mary Enloe, part of an 11-member picnic team of officers, said 44 kegs of beer ($3 a cup) have been ordered for this year’s picnic, plus wine ($2 a cup), wine spritzers ($2 a cup) and Bacardi coolers ($3).

This year’s elegant and bountiful dinner will be fried chicken and roast beef plus corn, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, cole slaw, tomatoes, cake and coffee, tea and water. The all-you-can eat family style meal will be sold from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., with carryouts available. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 4-10 and free for kids 3 and under. The food, particularly the chicken, comes highly recommended.

"We’ve been told we have great fried chicken," Enloe said.

"My mom loves the chicken," Vollmer said. "She’ll be here."

If the full meal deal is too much, a lunch stand will sell burgers, hot dogs, fried chicken gizzards and livers ($3 adults, $2 kids), nachos, pretzels, deep-fried home-made potato chips, hot wings (six for $3, 12 for $5), and lemonade. A snow cone stand will offer a rainbow assortment of flavored snow cones ($1) plus ice cream ($1.50) and popsicles ($1). There will even be kiddie cocktails ($1) – a blend of Sprite and cherry snow cone syrup. Soda and water are $2.

Live music kicks off at 11 a.m. with Rich Helton and the Circle of Friends Band, who perform until 3. They play classic country music. With a large dance area just off the outdoor bandstand in the center of the tree-shaded grounds, people will have plenty of room to kick their heels up. 

"They’re a good band for the kind of crowd we have," said Chris Enloe, Mary’s husband. "Early in the festival we get some dancers who like to listen to old-time country. They put on a good show."

Larry and Bert Miller and the Homesteaders play classic and current country and classic rock hits 3:30-7:30 p.m.

Fun For the Youngsters

The day is packed with entertainment and activities for the younger set. Two clowns, one of whom does magic tricks, will stroll the grounds 1-3 p.m. There is a bounce house, a small train for rides, and plenty of chances to win a prize. Games like Wheel of Fun, a spinning wheel similar to Churck-a-Luck, and Frog Toss, in which stuffed frogs are tossed at targets, allow kids the chance to win something. Likewise for Duck Pond, where everyone is a winner simply by plucking a toy duck out of a pool of water. In Pop-a-Shot, participants shoot baskets for prizes. They can also win with a bottle game, the object of which is to toss a ring over a bottle. The bottle, whether it’s Gatorade or shampoo or some other product, doubles as the prize.

Adults Can Get in on the Action

Games for adults include Texas Hold ‘Em and regular poker; Chuck-a-Luck; a pull tab game in which a $.50 investment could net $50; and a Handy Crafts stand where you match a number to win a craft prize. The Fancy Works stand offers hand-made quilts, blankets, towels and more, all possible to win by buying four chances for $1.

"The big draw is the quilts," Vollmer said. "They’re really beautiful."

There is also a Quilt of the Month raffle, where tickets at $1 each or six for $5 buys entry into a year-long, once-a-month drawing for more hand-made quilts.

In addition, the Grand Raffle, at $10 a ticket, has a $5,000 first prize, with other cash prizes pro-rated based on how many tickets are sold.

At the Country Store, people can purchase homemade baked goods like pies, cakes and cookies, canned goods such as jelly and apple butter, and fresh produce from local gardens. Making the parish picnic a success requires the volunteer commitment of nearly every parishioner, adults and children alike, Vollmer said. Mutert added it takes about 3,500 man-hours to make it happen. Children as young as third grade pitch in.

"We get compliments about how pleasant and hard-working the kids are," Mutert said.

But it’s not all demanding.

"Most of them have fun," Mary Enloe said. "They come up and play with their friends."

While they are pitching in and having a good time, they are also learning life lessons.

"It teaches them responsibility," Enloe added, "and they understand what it takes to run this as a church."

Vollmer is impressed every year by how his parish pulls together to take care of a crowd that usually tops 4,000 people.

"I call it the miracle of the loaves and fishes," he said. "You think, ‘How in the world are we going to feed all these people?’ If everybody doesn’t work together, it doesn’t happen."

Most games of chance cost $1, although there is some variety in the amount participants invest. The picnic will be held rain or shine. The seven-acre picnic grounds are located just south of the intersection of Highway P and Grothe Road. There is plenty of free parking. Golf cart shuttles are available for people parked farther away.