Tuesday, September 7th, 2021
Let's get cookin'
Durbin Bean Bake tradition continues
By William Kincaid
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Mike Billerman skims water from one of the 10 cast iron kettles used during the 122th Annual Durbin Bean Bake held Monday in a 5-acre woods on Erastus-Durbin Road west of Celina. The event, held every Labor Day, began in 1898 to honor Civil War veterans.
CELINA - After having to scrap last year's event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers on Labor Day fired up the kettles and jump-started the historic Durbin Bean Bake.
Generations of families and longtime friends, including those that grew up in the area but now live elsewhere, assembled in the idyllic, wooded 5-acre Durbin Park on Erastus-Durbin Road, just south of Mud Pike and west of Celina, for a day of old-fashioned games, music, patriotic reflection, honoring veterans and, of course, hearty helpings of bean soup.
The event, first held in 1898, traces back to a reunion of Civil War veterans.
The 122th Durbin Bean Bake got underway at about 10 a.m., with the commencement of more than 60 free games for the entire family with prizes.
As running, sack, bear-crawl, three-legged and wheelbarrow races took place under the shade of trees, older people, sitting in lawn chairs and at tables, caught up with one another, talking about current events and rehashing old memories of growing up on area farms and fishing on Grand Lake.
Those who couldn't hold out for beans at 4:30 p.m. satisfied their hunger with cheeseburgers, sausage made from a pig secured from a local farmer, pie, soup and snow cones.
Larry Fennig, president of the Durbin Bean Bake Community Club, took over the reins as head bean cook in 2000 after the passing of his father, Phillip.
Fennig made a few key changes, chiefly switching from the smaller navy beans to the more robust great northern beans. Secondly, he drastically cut down the cooking time from six or seven hours to about two hours.
"They used to cook the beans about all day. They'd be nothing but mush," he said.
With the minor tweaking, attendees now get plump beans, served with ham and bacon.
Fennig said he also set in stone a list of directions for preparing the beans, noting that previously nothing had been written down. Following the clearly-established list of rules allows for a consistent, delicious final product each year, he said.
This year the volunteers had 50 pounds of bacon, 170 pounds of ham and 500 pounds of great northern beans that were cooked in 10 kettles.
"Usually we only have about 120 pounds of ham and bacon," he said. "We had ham donated to us so I added more ham. People like ham in it so I'm putting more ham in than usual."
The bacon and ham went in the kettles boiling with water at 12:30 p.m. followed by the beans at 1:30 p.m. Volunteers continually stirred the kettles to keep the beans from settling in the bottom and burning, Fennig explained.
Next, crackers were added and then salt and pepper. The beans were expected to be done by 3:30 p.m., when they would be put in cans and served to people at 4:30 p.m. Though the beans were free of charge, organizers accepted free will offerings in cans, to help keep the bean bake afloat and to donate to area nonprofit organizations.
People came bearing containers to collect their share of the anticipated 300 gallons of beans.
"The best container to have is a pot with a handle on it," Fennig said, noting the beans are extremely hot and tend to melt their way through plastic containers.
He estimates that normally half of the attendees take their beans home to eat while the other half eats them at the park. Any leftovers are traditionally brought to area fire stations and other places, Fennig said.
Fennig heaped praise on the scores of businesses, veterans organizations and individuals who donated food, supplies and prizes for the games.
Fennig noted that five generations of his family have participated in the bean bake. He pointed to a woods across the street where the event was held for some time until 1957, when it was moved to the park owned by the Durbin Bean Bake Community Club.
"When I was a kid I can remember we had a big top tent we put up and it took two, three days to set up," he recalled.
He has no idea the age of the kettles.
"The Durbin Bean Bake Community Club, to my knowledge, never bought any of these," he said. "As a kid we went around picking up a half dozen or more (kettles) and as the owners got older, they just said, 'You just keep them,'"
According to a history provided by Fennig, the event originated as a reunion for Civil War soldiers.
"Andrew Jackson Snavely, a veteran of four years in the Civil War, decided to have a reunion of 'the boys,' since he had been camp cook during the war," the club history states. "He decided the menu for the day should consist of beans, hardtack and sow belly."
The first meeting was held at Celina and was reportedly a failure.
"He was encouraged by his friend, George Durbin, owner of the Durbin Store, to try again," the history states. "This time they had it in John Rhodes' grove at Durbin and had a soldier's band. And so the first bean bake was held in 1898 on Labor Day."
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Kinzie Henkle and her husband, Joel, left, try to catch up to leaders Raeh and Johnny Harrod, middle, and Paige and Chuck Shivers, right, Monday during the married couples wheelbarrow race at the bean bake.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Gina Brockman lets her shoe fly during the slipper kick Monday at the 122th Annual Durbin Bean Bake.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Silas Now takes a turn stirring the bacon and ham in boiling water on Monday.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Mike Billerman pours ham into a cast iron kettle on Monday at the bean bake.
