This is for the record...

I love burgoo, 

and more important,

the meaning behind 

it.

********

A Paen to Burgoo

How I love you, dear Burgoo fest!

My determination you put to test.

 Your productions are tasty,

When even some folks’re feisty!

 

What the heck,

All hands on deck,

Pass the paddle, and

Keep on stirrin’!

*****

You love it or you hate it, I suppose. I refer to that concoction of meats and vegetables spiced with human sweat and June bugs and miller parts plus “them” secret ingredients. It certainly tastes good after the coction; but I think the more important part of burgoo and its picnic was and is the bringing together of people—big ones, little ones and all those that fit in between—to do something as a community to make a community.

 

As a little boy and while growing towards manhood, I looked forward every summer to the picnics in Murrayville, Franklin, Woodson, Nortonville, Winchester, and Manchester. Sorry, Arenzville: you were a bit too far away for Dad and Mom to take us.

 

Here I am in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and what to do when the hankering for a taste of home smites one’s memories and riles the stomach? Well, you start by going out to the nearest source and getting ten dry faggots—that’s what bundles of firewood are called here curiously enough. Then you go off to the meat and vegetable stalls for the old hens and the beef trimmings and lay in a supply of veggies, the most important of which are corn and tomatoes. If chance has had it that an unfortunate monitor lizard had traipsed through the compound, he might be going into the kettle too!  Well, to make it short, you cook it all up and stir and stir and throw the dwindling faggots onto the fire, one after another, until you are about to run out and have to send your son out to find some more. Ah, the secret Ceylon ingredients?  No longer a secret: a fistful of karapinchcha and a healthy dose of dry amu miris for every five gallons.

 

Thus, the tradition continues and spreads afar. 

Pass the saltines, please.

*********

If ever you are in Morgan County on the 4th of July, you can savor burgoo at Franklin. Here's what they say on their web page about this soup:


Franklin might well be called the Burgoo Capital of the World as there is probably more of it made here than anywhere else. It is a well established fact that the first burgoo recipe was brought to this area from England in the latter part of the 19th century. The earliest record that we have of burgoo making is the account of John Ranson, Isaac Watson, John Scott, and Jim Scott. All were Englishmen who met at the Ranson farm near Woodson in 1885 to make burgoo. For many years soup makers depended on pigeons and wild game to furnish the meat accompanied by plenty of home grown vegetables. Within a few years other nearby communities had to go at making the concoction.

Just when the first burgoo was made in Franklin is not certain. However, we do know that early in this century, it was being made here and served at the community picnic. As a youngster in the 1920's Wayne Rolston and the other boys were responsible for retrieving pigeons from nearby farms and dressing them to be used by the Methodist Church for burgoo. Beef and chicken soon replaced the traditional pigeon and wild game. In 1949, the newly chartered American Legion sponsored the Franklin burgoo and picnic. The Businessmen's Club followed by the Franklin Booster Club also had it for a year or two. In 1952, the newly organized Lions Club took over the sponsorship of the 4th of July festivities and has continued to do so for thirty years.

While most of the country has never heard of burgoo, it is quite popular in this region. Each year the Lions make 35 kettles or approximately 1500-1600 gallons of burgoo. Preparations begin on the evening before the celebration. Different communities use various ingredients in making the soup. In Franklin, we start with dressed, whole chicken and beef. After this cooks for several hours over fires stoked with our favorite osage (hedges), the chefs start adding tomatoes, tomato puree, beans, macaroni, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, and several "secret ingredients."

The fires are started about six o'clock the previous evening and burn all night until dawn. Burgoo has to be stirred continuously using long paddles from midnight until the early morning. Drive-up kettle service is available from six o'clock until nine or ten when the burgoo is sold out. Four kettles are reserved for bowl service in the Lions Pavilion starting at eleven o'clock. Burgoo chefs Bill Haycraft and Joe Whalen have been in charge of the soup making for many years and with the help of club members, their wives, and community volunteers, have made the Franklin Burgoo famous throughout the area.

The entertainment includes carnival attractions, music, dancing, sky divers, a tractor pull, and a fireworks display. The churches and other community organizations sponsor food stands. Many extra attractions have been added to this year's festivities in honor of Franklin's sesquicentennial. The two day celebration will feature a community church service, a parade, a dress-up contest, beauty contest, and hand car races.

Source: http://franklinillinois.net/Franklin%20History%20Book/14-Burgoo.htm

 

 


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