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Ottoville parish gearing up for annual festival
OTTOVILLE — For decades, the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church Parish Festival has been synonymous with good food, fellowship and fun.
This year will be no different.
Head cook Dee Dee Schlagbaum and her crew have already been busy checking in food orders, washing up the parish dishes and silverware and preparing the dozens of roasters that will be used on Sunday to feed “the masses.”
“We usually serve about 1,800 in the two settings,” Schlagbaum said. “The majority comes right after church and then we have a good supper crowd.”
Feeding that number takes a staggering amount of food.
“We will go through about 410 chickens, 610 pounds of beef, 125 pounds of noodles and 18-20 roasters of potatoes along with green beans, applesauce, the relishes, bread and butter and homemade desserts,” Schlagbaum said.
Food preparation will begin on Saturday with cutting veggies for the relish trays, the “secret” cole slaw recipe and basting and browning the beef in the “secret” sauce.
Both recipes are closely guarded.
“There are only a few of us who have those recipes. The cole slaw has been a mainstay for 20-plus years. People love it,” Schlagbaum added.
Schlagbaum, her husband, Don and Steve and Cathy Hoehn and others will be on the scene to do the prep work.
“I worked with Sylvia Horstman and her husband, Billie, for several years and then I took it over. It’s not so bad with a group of us working,” Schlagbaum said.
Well before the crack of dawn on Sunday, the chicken frying crew will start on the more than 3,000 pieces of chicken that will go into meals.
Meals will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from 4-6 p.m. for $8.
“We did have to up the price a little because of the price of food and gas being so high,” Schlagbaum said. “But you still get your money’s worth. In the dining room it’s all-you-can-eat” and you can sit in air conditioning.”
Besides Schlagbaum’s crew in the kitchen, groups also run the dining room, carry-out room, carry-out line, desserts and keep up with the demand for the homemade sides during the serving times.
Other events that will round out the festival include a baked goods booth open at 8 a.m.; a lunch stand from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and games and entertainment for all including a kiddie tractor pull, fish pond, pop toss, indoor bingo, children’s rides, homemade crafts and religious articles, putt putt golf, the Brass Notes, a Guitar Hero contest and corn hole tournament for kids and adults.
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