August 9 Guild Meeting/Corn Roast/Hog Roast

—Prepared and submitted by meeting champion Herb Fick

• The Venue: The Pate Estate. ( I like the alliteration) 35730 Highway 56 Blvd, Dennison MN 55018
• The Hosts: LuAnn and Dan Pate. This might be the seventeenth time we have been there.
• The Date: Second Wednesday in August. (August 9)
• The Time: Serving at 6:30 pm. Business meeting following dinner (brief). Activities start about 8 AM.

Volunteers and curious people start showing up before nine o’clock. Lunch is on your own. Sometimes

it just doesn’t even happen. Sometimes it is at a bar in Randolph, Cannon Falls or Dennison.

The Demo:

Herb has not obtained a demonstrator yet. Herb has in the recent past talked to Seth Merritt and Brendan Stevens to demonstrate, attempting to showcase the young talent we have. (Note that people have rarely walked away from these demonstrations.) Herb is looking for a bit of guidance on this to see if this is a durable concept. We have also had vendors like Hossfeld the last couple of years. Those demonstrations also got a lot of attention.

Myron has offered a smithing station that will be available for the demonstrators and for teaching experience from noon on. Dan will have tools you have never dreamed of (Dan always has something new to share).

The Menu:

The menu is a lot like last years because no one has offered an alternative.

Roger Degner is our new corn roast maven and will be keeping a watchful eye on the process! Thank you, Roger! I suspect Dick Carlson helps in some way; he just doesn’t take credit for it..

Herb offered the protein (Still pork, and if you ask nicely, chicken). Jim and Gary and perhaps Seth and one or two others will bail out Herb, who is always a bit over extended with the pig part of the deal.

Vegetables, sweets, drinks and interesting stuff like pickled pike bits seem to reliably show up. That is the responsibility of the members for a normal potluck, except this is not really normal. Remember, Dick Carlson started this, and we need to keep it going.

The Purpose

This is also a good night to bring family and friends. It helps explain why our kind of people gather together. A lot has been going on, so show-and-tell should be really good and difficult to keep moving along. The corn roast started out as “Family Night.”

Here is the pitch for the help that it takes in addition to the stellar and consistent efforts put in by the Gavin crew for the meal. People who come early (like 8 AM to noon) have the option to help clean up the Pate estate and enjoy the comradery of the sort of folk who enjoy contributing to the pleasure of the evening. Others learn to handle exotic cars while moving them out of our way. For years we have enjoyed this venue and for years while cleaning up the next day I have asked Dan “How about doing this again?” And Dan says “Yes, let’s.”

People: Take note of this last paragraph…

I have used it for several years in a row with amazing results. There seems to always be an adequate assortment of tools for improving the landscape, and time to remain well acquainted with members. People might want to bring their own. I really need more than a few people to step up. Particularly, we need people if the weather looks threatening. Dan has invested in a large party tent that takes some effort to assemble. We will not use it if the weather is good, but it will save the day if it rains. (That has happened once.) We have always managed to leave the Pate estate looking pretty good.

Please contact me about your willingness to help. Best to call my cell because I expect to see Northern Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and South Dakota between now and then. (507 649 1611)

So far, there are no tricks on the route to Dan’s. Highway 56 and 357th street. Dennison MN. The road is patrolled.