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Mission Festival

Years ago, many rural churches held their Mission Festival in a neighboring woods. Ours was such a church. Much of the Saturday before was spent in preparing for this. Some of the men would set up stands to sell ice cream, pop, cracker jacks, candy bars, etc. Others put up a lot of benches with planks and a stage for church. The ladies would get their kitchen area arranged while some of the men put up tables where the meal would be served.

Sunday came, and all were happy if it was a nice day. (I can't remember what we did in the event of rain.) At the appointed time for the service, everyone assembled. The service had special meaning as it was held out in the open, in the woods, which was God's creation. Often a church band from Merrill or Wausau played and lead the congregation in singing. What a wonderful memory!

After the service, the ladies busied themselves in their kitchen, preparing to serve the meal. This always consisted of the finest chicken dinners with all the trimmings, as well as home-baked pies. Some of the men stationed themselves at the stands and took care of the business there. Many outsiders came to this feast, and when the last people were served and the necessary cleanup done, all assembled again for an afternoon program put on by the school children of the church. This program was secular in nature. My memory has failed me on the contents of these programs, but I remember the words and melody of one song we sang very well. My sister Norma and I sang it in 1969, many years later at a graduation party our family had when I, together with some nieces and nephews graduated from college. It goes like this:

"There was a man named Dunderbach
Invented a machine.
It was for grinding sausage meat,
And it would go by steam.
Those little cats and long-tailed rats,
No more they will be seen,
For they were ground to sausage meat
In Dunderbach's machine.

One day a little boy comes in
In Dunderbach's big store.
There was a pile of sausage meat
A-laying on the floor.
And while he was a-waiting
He did whistle up a tune,
The sausage meat begins to skip
And run around the room.

Now something was out of order
That machine it would not go.
Old Dunderbach he crawls inside
To find it out, you know.
His wife she gets a nightmare and
She walks right in her sleep,
She picks up the crank
And gives it a yank,
And Dunderbach was meat.

Refrain:

Oh Dunderbach, Oh Dunderbach
For why you was so mean,
For now you'll be so sorry you
Invented that machine.
Those little cats and long-tailed rats
No more they will be seen,
For they were ground to sausage meat
In Dunderbach's machine."

After the program was over, there was ample time for more visiting, and the refreshment stands were open for business again. The children especially took advantage of this opportunity. Every year for Mission Festival, our dad would give each of us a dime. This would buy us two treats, at 5 cents each. We had spent a lot of time beforehand trying to decide what two treats we would spend our money for.

One Sunday, I had three nickels to spend. I had been staying at Uncle Bob's with Ruth, my older sister, who was helping out there for awhile when they had a new baby. I was in first grade at the time, and had been given a nickel by the McConnen's man, who peddled spices in the rural areas. The day of the Mission Festival, I had forgotten this nickel in my shoe box, which served as a toy box for me. Having fully intended to take this along, Dad saw how disappointed I was when I thought of it. He had come to pick us up and was half-way up the long driveway when I remembered it. I'll never forget how happy I was when he turned around and went back so I could get my nickel. I always remembered this, and I think it showed what kind of a dad he was to be sensitive to my feelings. That day, at Mission Festival, I was able to have three treats instead of two.

Soon this happy and memorable day was over, and everyone made preparations to go home. What a lot of work there was to clean up this woods, and for everyone to get his things back home, but what wonderful memories we all had. Today when we drive by this woods, one or the other always remarks about the many Mission Festivals we had there, and what good times we had.