Since I have moved to the Keweenaw, I have really missed some great produce you just can't get up here. For example, there really isn't local cantaloupe and watermelon. I had to buy canning peaches when I was downstate in Traverse City last weekend. And the sweet corn at the farmer's market has been a big disappointment. I did find some great sweet corn for sale at the gas station at the Indian reservation in Baraga from Johnson Farms. I bought a dozen ears and we ate some, and I made corn relish with the rest.
It was 92 degrees today, and too hot to can anything, but I needed to get it done so I got going. First, I made some hot pepper jelly with the bumper crop of peppers I have growing in my Earthbox which I have had for about 20 years. I grow tomatoes and peppers in them, and they work great! Then I set about to make the corn. Whenever I shuck corn, it takes me back to the St. Sylvester's Usher's Club picnic when I was a kid. My dad was president of the Ushers Club, and we'd head out early to the K of C picnic grounds early in the morning to help get ready for it. I can remember thinking it was so far away and up north, but it was actually only on 21 Mile. Back then, Shelby Twp. was considered "the sticks". We'd go up early and Mr. Jakubowski used to make up a bunch of bacon and scrambled eggs for us to eat and a big pot of coffee. We kids would be put to work shucking corn for the corn roast.
When the picnic started, they'd roll out the barrel and the bar would be open. To eat, we'd have hot dogs, corn, and a grilled sausage that was called "Polacki" that was a cross between kielbasa and a hot dog and was served with kraut and onion and mustard. I remember thinking Polacki was a funny name because it sounded like "Pollack" which was a derogatory name people called us Polish people in Warren. There was always a Moon Walk that we kids could jump in all day long, plus contests like the 3 legged race and and a sack race, plus there was a treasure hunt where tons of pennies were buried in sawdust. The picnic lasted well into the night, when the "Wheelbarrow of Cheer" raffle winner was announced. I don't think I've ever seen a Wheelbarrow of Cheer since I left Warren - it's a wheelbarrow full of booze.
The picnic was always around the end of August, close to my mother's birthday on Aug. 26. The weather was always super hot. That made the water balloon toss a welcome respite. I can remember the scandal when a woman names Sue Earl tried to sign up to be an usher at church. The usher's club took a vote and decided against letting her do it, she could join the altar society instead. None of this women's libber stuff for St. Sylvester! Back in those days, we had a Catholic church on every corner in Warren, but that eventually dwindled. St. Sylvester merged with St. Edmund, in June 2013 on the St. Edmund site, and became St. Faustina. A good Polish saint! I wonder if they have a picnic and a wheelbarrow of cheer and some polacki?
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