Our Little Town
Church birthday
Detasseling
Summer Storm
Burgoo 2009
Burgoo 2009 - pt 2
Burgoo 2008
Burgoo 2008 - pt 2
Burgoo 2007
Burgoo 2006
Past Burgoos
Past Burgoos - pt 2
Schools
State Champs
Veterans
Clyde Ginder and Russell Wedeking
The Peck brothers, Dick (left) and Bob (right), enjoy a bowl of burgoo for their breakfast.
Merry-go-round
Too hot to handle! Coach Jay Wessler hands over a steaming bucket of burgoo to an early morning customer.
Chopping cabbage -- Maxine Beard, Audrey Braner, Vera Talkemeyer, Roberta Clark, Sue Stock
Gib Harbin dishes up a bowl of soup for Dean Stock.
Tools of the trade
Straight from the kettle into your container. (Or the Burgoo will provide one for you for a small charge.) Bob Stock tells me that Bert Kolberer once said, We've filled everything except a ketchup bottle!"
Gale Kleinschmidt at the potato-peeling machine
Neal Hart (left) and Gib Harbin (right) working at the kettles
Meat delivery arrives
Hot soup directly from the kettle
A long line forms around the village library for the supper hour. Soup was sold out around 6:30 pm.
Early birds in the soup line. Kettle service starts at 8:00 a.m. on both days of the Burgoo.
Coming soon to your kitchen? Two gallons of burgoo, waiting for the company to show up at the dinner table.
Pauline Grant has been cutting pies at the Burgoo for over 50 years. That's a lot of pies!
Vera Talkemeyer prepares to slice into a blueberry pie.
Shirley Wessler dishes up two scrumptious pieces of pecan pie.
Sara Schone explaining to the pre-school students about her job of peeling carrots.
Unloading potatoes. (Marc Carls, Brian Millard, truck driver, Gale Kleinschmidt, Tony Thomas.
Raffle tickets for the Triopia Women's Club's Bible Stories Quilt were a hot item. Emma Davis was the winner.
Gerald Beard (far right) introduces the members of the Arenzville Village Board who are present to receive a check for a grant from the State. From left, Ross Houston, Rep. Rich Myers, Ron Kershaw, Fred Blankenship, Dean Stock and Mayor Don Cates.
New shelter in the Village Park - during the Burgoo
Lois Stock sells cutlery for the Legion Auxiliary.
Banjo Waibel sells hats, T-shirts and decorative items at the Burgoo
New shelter in the Village Park -- before
Bikers ready for the kids' parade
Dick Lippert, playing bingo
Fancy boa, hat for your dog -- you're ready for the Kids' Parade!
Gerhard Taylor prepares to carry a bucket of steaming burgoo to the serving line
Buddies
Cheerleaders
Indian brave
Clown making balloon creatures
Bring your hamster or gerbil -- get in parade!
Dancers
Lorenz Kleinschmidt and Althea Carls serve bowls of soup to hungry customers.
Doug Stock and
Ken Bradbury chats with a former student
Ducks Unlimited supports good conservation practices.
Same old burgoo for a new generation
Soon-to-be football player on the Triopia team
Shy fellow
Vera Talkemeyer cuddles a sleeping grandchild
Waldron Paul steadies a grandchild on the carousel.
Mike Beck watches over the grill.
Jim Phelps enjoys a bowl of burgoo.
Louise Schroeder volunteers at the Village Library annual book sale.
Don Cates
Neighbors bring their lawn chairs and relax in the park.
Orville Fricke secures a piece of pie.
Every sort of homemade fruit pie you can imagine is available at the Burgoo.
Ready for the Kids' Parade
Poodle with girls in poodle skirts
Camouflaged driver with his little sister
Cleaning the stirring machine
The burgoo sells out!
Gerhard Taylor dips into the burgoo kettle
Unicycle rider
Famous profile - Truman Peck impersonates Illinois's first great president.
Abe Lincoln (aka Truman Peck) visits the Burgoo.
Local beauties practicing the queenly manner of waving.
Gang of little ones converge on the Burgoo
Martina and Matthew Dorsey, granddaughter-in-law and grandson of Louise Schroeder. Martina is a native of Mistelgau, Germany.
A line forms for kettle service
Veterans gathering at Willie's (note that fancy WW II Jeep!)
Dylan Phelps plays on the Burgoo stage with other local talent in the G.T.N. Band.
Tim Burnham, from Atlanta, Georgia, made a special trip to Arenzville just to taste a bowl of the World's Best Burgoo.
Mike and Donna Wheelan (second and third on the left) traveled from Washington, IA, for their first visit to the Arenzville Burgoo and a reunion with Mike's sister, Roberta Clark and her family. Diana Boll, from Kinmundy, IL (on the right) also joined in.
Luke Crawford is the lead singer for the G.T.N. Band.
Steam from kettles of boiling burgoo rises in the night
Marsha McEvers (left) and Judy Logan (right) enjoy a reunion with their high school English teacher, Roberta Clark.
Local historic house was open for tours during the Burgoo. The house has been restored with special attention given to authentic details.
The first "burgoo man" came out of his cave to attend the Kids' Parade at this year's Burgoo.
Myron Beard accepts donations to support the Village's 4th of July fireworks.
Gary Beard helps with the Bingo tables. His birthday, Sept. 7th, often falls on one of the days of the Burgoo.
It was a hot afternoon for man and man's best friend.
Fresh, homemade blackberry pie.
Brenda Beets chats with a friend.
Jansen Joehl and John Love. These guys are members of B.U.D.S. -- Bringing Up Down Syndrome, a group to promote better understanding of this condition.
Cleaning celery: (from left) Jean Carls, Eileen Meyer, Pat Roegge, Janice Schone, Millie Beard, Susan Beard and Teresa Langley.
Chopping cabbage: Fran Nelson, Gib Harbin, Roberta Clark, and Doris Lovekamp.
A circle of volunteers peels carrots. Valerie Hudson (near center of the photo) stopped by on her way from Mason City, IA, to Greenfield, IL, just to help with the work.
A group of volunteers works on peeling onions. Winifred Harper from Boulder, CO, joined in this job.
Wally Houston enjoys a perfect afternoon at the Burgoo.
Esther Elliott and Eleanor Roegge enjoy getting together at the Burgoo.
Troy Alexander fries up a batch of catfish for hungry customers on Thursday evening.
Gib Harbin opens a can of coffee.
Commemorative plate with the old Arenzville school, found and purchased on eBay by an alert Arenzville citizen.
The grilled pork chops were really tasty this year!
A few dozen volunteers are needed to serve the soup, stoke the fires, remove the embers, and keep an eye on the kettles which are still boiling.
This young chef has good taste.
Maria Taylor and Dean Stock trim celery.
Brian Waibel prepares to fill containers with hot soup from the kettle service.
Free musical entertainment at the Burgoo features local and nationally known talent.
Friends and neighbors visit in the Village park.
Ross and June Houston admire a ceramic Christmas village displayed by one of the crafts vendors.
Soup-er Liberty was the theme for a patriotic entry in the Kids' Parade.
Stuart Daws comes from Winchester each year to volunteer his time working at the Burgoo.
Clyde Ginder and Loren "Pete" Burrus supervise the morning activities.
The potato peeling machine makes short work of a big job.
Tony Thomas and Roger Witte remove hot embers from the firebox under one of the kettles.
A long line quickly forms for kettle service on Friday morning. Over 600 gallons of soup were sold in just a few hours.
Diane Miller peels carrots.
David Huey and Gale Kleinschmidt operate the potato peeling machine.
Ray Schnitker (left) and Joy Schnitker (far right) and Carol Lovekamp clean celery.
Chopping celery.
Roger Witte
Gib Harbin and Roger Burrus work on the celery.
Russ Lutkehus.
Marc Carls and David Huey.
Friday's soup line.
Kettle of boiling burgoo.
John Sheehan holds a funnel while hot burgoo is ladled into a container for kettle service.
Zeta Blais, of Meredosia, visited the Arenzville Burgoo both days. She is the daughter of famed burgoomeister Elza Perry.
Burgoo
Jim Beard washes a container for kettle service.
2003 prices
Clifford "Tommy" Thomas
Rena Ahrens, Delbert Mueller and...?
Dave Carls dishes up some hot soup.
Don Cates and Ron Kershaw.
Carnival fun house.
A cool dragon ride.
Wes and Linda Hendricker give away balloons, copies of the New Testament and bookmarks to promote the ministry of St. Peter's Lutheran Church.
Esther Morrison's homemade gooseberry pie
A.C. Hart (center) came for a bowl of soup with son-in-law Bob Weldon and daughter Carla.
The fast way to chop celery!
Catfish filet sandwich at A.J.'s.
Novel way to transport hot burgoo.
Cele Burrus's fresh-baked pies, ready to go to the Burgoo.
Neal Hart empties the kettle.
Face painting was popular with the kids.
Dorothy, Toto and the Tin Man
A wagonload of puppies (well guarded)
Tin Man and Dorothy searching for burgoo
Hauling the secret ingredient
Uncertain Cowboy
Now we can tell them apart!
Bernita, Marjorie, Bernice, Janice
Sue, Gene, and [help!]. Dick Fricke (in the background), lives in that other burgoo-making town, Utica, IL.
Tom, Merle, Myron
Big crowd for the frog and turtle races!
The "starting gate"
They're off and hopping!
Loading the contestants in the gate is sometimes challenging.
Hopeful bingo player
Cutting pies
American Legion Auxiliary tent
Afternoon in the park
Grilling steaks
Fresh pie anyone?
James Dean jelly bean mosaic
Beautiful blue eyes
Pretty lizard!
This page last modified: 03/25/2021
![Sue, Gene, and [help!]. Dick Fricke (in the background), lives in that other burgoo-making town, Utica, IL.](images/126_2657.jpg)
ARENZVILLE, IL | HOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST BURGOO 