By Jordan Studer
jstuder@wbcowqel.com
Since New Washington is famous for its chick hatcheries, it was no surprise that the rave of the Dutchtown Hatchery Festival Friday night was the chicken barbeque. From 4-8 p.m. festival goers piled in to the K of C Hall in downtown New Washington to get their own order of this famous chicken.
Two ladies, Lillian Strohm and Kitty Tedrow, have attended the festival every year. Strohm is a resident of New Washington, and her 60-year friendship with Tedrow is what keeps their festival tradition alive.
“We always get together and we always come every year. We’ve been doing it for a long time. We enjoyed the chicken, it was very good,” the ladies explained.
Another festival attender commented how the chicken dinner was indeed, “highly recommended.”
While bellies were being filled with the scrumptious dinner, the John Kennedy Band from Bucyrus was keeping their ears and moods occupied. The benches around the gazebo filled with smiling faces and tapping feet as the band performed.
Walking down toward the Beer Garden, the music filling the air was quite different than the tunes coming from the gazebo. The band Alternative Ending was able to keep the crowd in and surrounding the Beer Garden more than entertained.
Beyond the music, kids were storming the amusement rides and the older kids went for the street vendors. The adults all caught up and reminisced about sweet memories. The tradition of the Hatchery Festival brings the comforting small town feeling to a whole new level.
“I just like small town. I get to see guys like this,” commented Ray Alt pointing toward friend Tom Heydinger with a laugh.
Brent Cline from Shelby, Ohio, “I came over to New Washington just to enjoy the festival. I came here when I was a kid, when I was like 14-years-old. Then it was just the New Washington festival and not the Hatchery Festival,” Cline happily explained.
No doubt, many memories were made Friday night amongst all that attended. The events taking place on Saturday will bring the 2016 Hatchery Festival to an end with a bang, literally. The day is packed full of entertainment and events galore including a parade at 5 p.m. and the Kiddie Tractor Pull at 7:30 p.m. will keep the good times rolling. The fireworks display at 10 p.m. will be the grand finale to yet another successful Dutchtown Hatchery Festival.