Only ONE day to get your fill
By Tabitha Goodling
The kettles will be empty after one day of The 2009 McClure Pot Pie Festival. Formerly known as the McClure Fireman's Carnival, which began in 1931, the staple of the three-day event has always been the chicken pot pie. This year, the crumbling economy has left the pots empty, and the festival, at the Bean Soup grounds in McClure, will take place one day only: July 18. John Knepp, 20, president of the McClure Fire Company, said despite the public's love of the chicken potpie, it was time to cut back. "This year will be the first year we ever did it in just one day."
Festivals of the past, he said, had brought in as much as $15,000 for the fire company. The elimination of rides in the late 1990s dropped the income to $6,000. Last year, the festival raised only $2,000. The potpie, though, was enough to keep people coming whether or not there was a Ferris wheel. "Oh, I've never witnessed anything like ours," Knepp said of the potpie, admitting even his own mother and grandmother couldn't make pot pie as good as the fire company. "We've had people come as far as 70 or 80 miles for it. It has always sold." Many of the same people and much of the same dedication goes into the preparation each year. Deb Knepp, no relation to John, has been working in the kitchen for 10 years. Though she believes many will be saddened the festival will be held for just one day, "I think we will still have to make 40-some kettles. The people like to eat."
Return to the index
