October 2007 Edition

Sauerkraut Supper? What? Why?

Deb

Looking To The Past ... Sauerkraut Supper

Annually following the dinner I am asked many questions regarding the event. Since many of the inquiries come from our own members, I thought that you would appreciate a little history of the dinner.

When did it all start? I was told by the late Walter Schrader that the dinner was started prior to World War 1. in his words, "the early (1900) nineteen hundreds." Who did the early dinners? From the beginning until 1955, (this is the last entry in their book) the supper was the activity of the Ladies Aid.

How did the Couples Club (Trinity Christian Fellowship) get involved? There was a period of two years, 1956-57, when the dinner was not held. I was attending a meeting of the Wellsville Little League baseball at the home of "Tex" Young. During the conversation, Tex remarked how much he enjoyed the sauerkraut suppers. He said "Jack if you can do something to get them going again, I'll come down and help make the sauerkraut." This offer was presented at the next Couples Club meeting and the rest is history. We assisted the Ladies Aid in this venture for two years, officially taking over in 1960.

When the dinner was held in the old church basement, the Ladies served 135 at each serving. The date was flexible and was held on a different fall date each year.

In the new Parish Hall on W. Genesee Street, the number of attendees increased to 180 per serving. The increase in attendance could be attributed to the scheduling of the dinner, annually on Election Day. Here we lucked out. The day was selected because it was a legal holiday,. This gave our members who had that day off, the opportunity to work on the dinner.

In 1960 we had 13 crates of cabbage. This year we had better than a ton. In 1960 the 13 crates made 4 small crocks and half of a 20 gallon crock. This year, 1987, we had 18 crocks of kraut, many being 20-25 & 30 gallon sizes.

In the early days it was necessary to farm out the hams for cooking. Reunings' Bakery did it for years. With their closing, Ag-Tech here in Wellsville graciously volunteered their services. As the school grew it became apparent that we would have to look toward the day when all the cooking would be done at the church. This we have done now for many years.

In 1975 we held the first dinner in our new Fellowship Hall. Today, we sell 214 tickets for each serving. To meet the food requirements for this group, plus a committee of 60, we prepare the following:

- Cook 250 pounds of sauerkraut;
- 30 pounds of ground pork butt is mixed with the kraut.
- Roast 20 to 22 boned fresh hams.
- Make 16 gallons of gravy.
- Prepare 65 pounds of peeled potatoes for each serving.
- It takes 65-70 king size loaves of bread for stuffing.
- 90 cups of homemade apple-raspberry-current jelly.
- Approximately 650 cups of coffee.
- 80+ apple pies donated by church members.

You might ask, if you cook 250 pounds of kraut for the supper and since we had better than a ton of cabbage, what happens to the rest of the sauerkraut that is made? That sauerkraut is sold yearly in 2 pound bags. This year we sold approximately 700-2# bags or 1400 pounds of raw kraut.

To all members of Trinity who in any way contributed to the success of the 1987 sauerkraut supper, "Thank you!" This traditional dinner of Wellsville would not be possible without the assistance of so many of our members.

Remember "Tex" young and his gracious offer? Tex never misses a sauerkraut supper. However, I'm still waiting for him to come down and assist in the making of the sauerkraut.

    Thank you,
    Jack T. Collins, Chairman (1987)

Rev. Robert Morris, Pastor | Deb Martin, Editor | Church Office: 585.593.3311 | E-mail: telco@trinitywellsville.org