Get Ready!

I’m here to tell you that you need to get ready. We’re getting ready to get hit.

No, it’s not another hurricane coming through. No, it’s not another thunderstorm, although I’m sure we’re going to get more of those. No, it’s not an earthquake. We’re getting ready to get hit with everybody and their brother coming into our county for the annual St. Jerome Fancy Farm Picnic. It’s this weekend. And if you don’t know that it’s happening you can’t blame anyone but yourself.

It’s bigger than Hillbilly Days over in Pikeville. It’s bigger than the Quilt Show in Paducah. Alright, it’s not as big as the Kentucky Derby but not too many things are. It’s bigger than the International BBQ Festival in Owensboro. It’s bigger than the Kentucky Renaissance Fair in Eminence. No, it’s not as big as the Kentucky State Fair. It’s bigger than the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. It’s big.

The Picnic actually starts Friday morning. Not a lot of people know that. We have Mass on the Picnic grounds and then the whole congregation walks down the hill to the BBQ pits and we bless the meat before it goes on the pits. That’s all that goes on until later on Friday. Starting at 5 o’clock the Knights of Columbus hosts a fish fry. That’s when we start registering kids and adults for the St. Jerome One Mile Classic. I like to say that’s the family race. You’ll see grandparents pushing strollers. You’ll see toddlers running for awhile and then being carried awhile. You’ll see school age kids racing to see who comes in first. You’ll see people warming up for the 5K running with everybody else. After the One Mile is over everyone walks down the hill for the start of the 5K Fun Run. There are those who say that course is harder than most 5K’s. It’s because there is this hill that you have to run down, and then on the way back you have to run up that hill. Everyone who completes that race though is more than proud of themselves. Last year they started playing Bingo up on the picnic grounds after the Fun Run. There is a band and we’ll sell you a souvenir, a chance on a new Chevy Silverado, and a band. Everything usually finishes up between 9 and 10 o’clock though because the day starts early on Saturday.

The first thing on Saturday we start selling BBQ pork and mutton by the pound at 8AM. The picnic officially starts at 10AM but the meat has already been coming off the pit for awhile, in anticipation of the hundreds of people who get up early to go out to the picnic to pick up some BBQ. At 10:30AM the music starts and from that point on there is continuous activity up on the speaker/band stand. That’ll last until the picnic is over at 10PM.

Dinner starts at 11AM. But you don’t have to get out there right then and there. That’s because we’ll be serving dinner continuously until 7PM. And this isn’t just any dinner. It’s all you can eat. And it’s a lot of food. There is BBQ Pork and Mutton, obviously. But there is fresh fried chicken. There are garden-fresh vegetables. I don’t want to sound sexist because I know a lot of men who cook for the picnic, but the ladies have been working all week. They have fresh corn cut off the cob, fresh cucumbers, green beans, Lima beans, and black eyed peas. There is a sign-up sheet in the back of church a month before the picnic asking how many pounds of potatoes you are going to cook, dice and bring to the KC hall for the potato salad. There are sliced tomatoes on the table. Everyone is expected to bring 4 home-made pies. But some people bring cobblers and cakes and cookies. Did I mention that this is all-you-can eat?

Since the picnic started at 10AM all of the games have been manned and ready for all of our visitors. Bingo is played for prizes. There is a ping-pong game, mini-golf, the cane stand (you know you want to try to ring a cane), poker, a duck pond, a bean bag toss with Sponge-Bob, and you never know what the Pendel family will be doing. Some years it is dishes, some years there might be a mouse involved. There is the souvenir stand. There is a stand where you can pay $5 to win a brand new Chevy Silverado pick up truck. It is sharp. And if you hadn’t had a chance to go up and eat dinner you can grab a BBQ sandwich or hamburger and a drink at the sandwich stand.

You really need to stop at the Country Store and look at all of the hand-made items, hand-made baked goods, jams and pickles. And don’t shy away from the quilts. Did you know that women in Fancy Farm spend the entire year getting ready for the picnic. They quilt every week until they have the quilts ready for the raffle and to be sold. You don’t want to miss out on those.

All of these activities are manned by parishioners of St. Jerome Catholic Church and their visitors. It is true that entire families come home every year for the picnic. In fact, those families come in on either Thursday or Friday and go back to their lives on Sunday or Monday, truly exhausted but totally fulfilled because they got to visit people that they haven’t seen in years and they got to help out their community. I will tell you from personal experience, nothing is better. In fact, I came to love Fancy Farm by first loving the picnic.

There is a really cool award that was started years ago called the Pioneer Award. This is an award given to people in Graves County who celebrate the pioneer spirit. Sometimes it’s given to a group of people but usually it’s given to an individual who has made a lifetime of doing for others and their community. It doesn’t get a whole lot of press but is a very prestigious award.

I know, you’re interested in the political speaking, right? Of course. Even those not interested in politics are eaten up with it picnic weekend. That’s because that’s all anyone wants to talk about. There are those who think that the picnic is all about politics. They seemed surprised when I tell them that it’s just a church picnic. But then I explain, years ago, politicians came to events like church picnics because there was a crowd there. When the media got wind that the politicians would be there then they came too. The media coverage brought more people which brought more politicians. The difference with Fancy Farm is that it’s still going on. Lots of other events quit allowing politicians to talk but not in Fancy Farm. We invite the politicians. And there are those who swear that if you want to win a state-wide election in Kentucky you had better show up at the St. Jerome Fancy Farm Picnic. Now, they’ll tell you that an election is not won at the picnic. But they’ll also tell you that there are some that have been lost at the picnic. I won’t go into names but I’ve seen a few happen myself.

The political speaking usually goes on for about 2 hours. After that is over then the speaker stand turns back into the band stand and we have music going for those who are interested in dancing until the picnic is over. It is said that Happy Chandler would dance with anyone who would dance with him after the political speaking and his signature white suit would be dripping with sweat by the time he headed out of town.

But if you’re interested in really having a good time head to the Bingo stand. It usually cools down when the sun goes down but the prizes heat up. This year they are giving away some special prizes: a Yeti cooler, a picnic table, St. Louis Cardinals tickets, a smart TV, a gun safe and a riding lawn mower. That doesn’t count all of the bicycles, wagons, lawn furniture, electronics, kitchen appliances, and toys that are available to win throughout the day. And nothing is more exciting than to holler “Bingo”!

Make sure though before the picnic is over or you give up to go over and get a raffle ticket on the new Chevy Silverado pick up truck. The drawing for the truck winner at 10 o’clock is always a highlight of the night. And nothing is more exciting than if the winner is there waiting for them to call out their name. They never knew that they had so many friends. Honestly though there are not too many who aren’t thrilled for the winner. There’s a lot of back-slapping going on.

After the picnic is over many people go on with their lives. That is unless they have been working all day. Clean-up starts pretty early in the community of Fancy Farm. If you are fortunate enough to sleep in you can go by the picnic grounds Sunday and you won’t even know that there had been a picnic there the day before. That’s part of the charm of our parish community. We are very proud of our picnic. We are very proud that you have come to visit. And we are also very proud when you leave.

Have a good picnic week everybody! And be nice to our visitors.