Hope everyone has a great 4th of July. I usually do not cook on the 4th; for the 40 years we have lived here in Wapakoneta, Ohio we go to the St. Joe’s annual picnic. They have good food, rides for the kids and the church ladies sell some beautiful quilts and hand sewn art. There is bingo; cake walks and some show down poker for the gamblers. The finale is always some great fireworks.
They serve beer there and in the old days they sold it iced down in water troughs. You could walk around with it. We usually went about supper time and followed the same routine. First we found the shakeup lemonade stand then off to get some fair fries with salt and malt vinegar, then to the little red barn to get some whole hog sausage sandwiches and then set down at picnic tables to eat it all.
After we ate we would let the kids ride some rides and then the wife and kids would go to play the cake walk and play some bingo. I headed to get a cold beer and played showdown poker. We all met when it was time for the fireworks and watched a good show.
It has changed over the years; they now have a fenced off area where you drink beer. That did it for my playing showdown poker, I can’t stay there long without a beer! Things that are still the same are the lemonade shakeups, fair fries, and whole hog sausage sandwiches!
Smokin Don
