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Scoop Today
VOL. 83 • NO. 39
YOUR FREE HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER
Rob and Marsha Ernst put on the kettle, and carry on a Warren tradition By Tony Carton EDITOR
Roland Haye made Mulligan stew for Warren’s annual Pumpkin Festival for eighteen years. It all started simple enough; a relative’s wedding resulted in a request for something unusual to serve a large crowd at the reception, and Haye stepped up to the plate with a great stew recipe The family and friends at the wedding loved the stew. They told Haye that he should make it for the upcoming fall festival held annually in Warren. When he sold over five hundred bowls the first day, he knew he was on to something, and the rest is Warren history. Every year Haye put together his secret recipe, and stood out on the street during Pumpkin Fest weekend in Warren selling his stew. Eventually, age began to catch up with the stew master, and when he ran a classified ad looking for a replacement, Rob and Marsha Ernst applied for and took the position. Today, they prepare the traditional stew, and folks come to Pumpkin Fest to taste their specialty. “We were not sure how it would all turn out,” says Rob. “We just called Roland. He told us he would help us with the stew for the first three years, and if we were comfortable, we could take it over.” The original agreement between Haye, Rob, and Marsha was for them all to work as partners for three years.
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“We were to prepare the stew; cut up the meat and vegetables, build the fire, and help him serve it at the festival,” Marsha said. “Roland would come when things were cooking, check to be sure it was right, and add the secret ingredients.” The couple was pretty sure they could fit the bill. “We felt it was important for the community to carry on the tradition,” she said. “We had been customers for years, and we could not just let it end so we decided to try.” The Ernsts are not telling any secrets, but they do say that their sixtyfive gallon kettle makes slightly over seven hundred bowls of stew, and it takes about a day to prepare the recipe. “We start cutting veggies the day before the parade,” Rob said. They said they chop and mix pounds and pounds of carrots, and celery, and multiple gallons of canned corn, peas, stewed tomatoes and whole boxes of barley. “Do not forget the onions,” Marsha said. “We use nearly forty pounds of chopped white onions.” She says there is a trick to chopping that many onions and she is willing to part with it. “You have to cut the roots off before you chop them,” she explains. “If you do not cut away the roots first, your eyes will tear up and you will “cry” for hours. We also
See TRADITION, Page 5
Pleasant Valley Community Watch to meet Sept. 27 on Personal/Digital Security: Protecting yourself on-line. Sheriff Turner encourages the residents of Pleasant Valley Township and the Stockton area to attend. Inquires may be directed to Deputy Jeff Phillips at 1-800-373-7838 or (815) 777-2141.
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Jo Daviess County Sheriff Kevin Turner announces that the next Pleasant Valley Community Watch meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. at the Pleasant Valley Township Building located at 9009 E. Willow Road. Nick Keleher will be the guest speaker and will be giving a presentation
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TONY CARTON PHOTO The Scoop Today
This child made a couple new tried and true friends from the Warren Fire Department during Saturday’s Pumpkin Fest parade in downtown Warren.
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