Advertise
Contact
Forms
EEdition
Freeman Courier


  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Obituaries
  • Photos
    • Photos Of The Day
    • Photo Galleries
  • South Dakota News Watch
  • Archives
    • More Archives
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Obituaries
    • Photos
      • Photos Of The Day
      • Photo Galleries
    • South Dakota News Watch
    • Archives
      • More Archives
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
SCHMECKFEST
This photo of Stewart Hofer delivering food the last Saturday of March represents what the 2020 Schmeckfest will be remembered for. With the coronavirus forcing officials to cancel the annual “festival of tasting,” a drive-up service was implemented on the days the 62nd Schmeckfest would have been held. Another drive-thru event will be held Friday night, June 26. COURIER FILE PHOTO
news
By News Staff  
June 24, 2020

SCHMECKFEST DRIVE-THRU RETURNS FRIDAY

The history books will note that there was no Schmeckfest held in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic that took its toll on that festival, along with a host of other spring and summertime activities.

The history books will also note that Schmeckfest and Freeman Academy officials made the best of an unfortunate situation, as is evident in the second Schmeckfest-inspired drive-thru event this Friday, June 26. 

From 5 to 7:30 p.m., the public is invited to come to the parking lot on the west side of Sterling Hall and pick up pre-ordered hot meals, as well as prepackaged frozen Schmeckfest sausage and Country Kitchen goods. Orders for the meals — sausage, sauerkraut and cheese pockets with white sauce — were to have been placed by June 23.

Curbside delivery will be at the doors to the Link.

Schmeckfest officials also offered drive-up sales — sans the hot meal — on what would have been the two weekends of Schmeckfest the third and fourth weeks of March.

“We had such a positive result; so many people commented that we’ve got to do it again,” said Meranda Van Ningen, who is the development director at FA and serves on the school’s auxiliary executive board. “It really was a group effort to say, ‘Let’s do it again, but this time let’s give them some hot food.”

Even if food was not pre-ordered, the public is still invited to the drive-thru event to purchase frozen Schmeckfest sausage, kuchen, noodles and peppernuts.

“With COVID,” Van Ningen notes, “sausage is actually cheaper than hamburger.”

As was the case in March, all of the Country Kitchen items that will be sold on Friday were made in advance of Schmeckfest and the coronavirus health crisis, so in that regard, food preparation had already been taken care of. Putting together the hot meal will be coordinated by a small staff working out of Pioneer Hall’s commercial kitchen; the food will be prepped ahead of time and plated as the vehicles pull up to the front doors for pick-up “so it’s hot and ready when it hits their car,” said Van Ningen.

Van Ningen said Schmeckfest officials began thinking about a second drive-thru event immediately following the success of their first in March. They had hoped to organize one earlier, but instead decided to wait and see what was going to happen with the coronavirus.

She noted that all guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control will be met, from how the food is delivered to the vehicles to the number of volunteers working in the kitchen.

One of the biggest challenges for officials has been setting up the online store through the Schmeckfest website, schmeckfest.com. While meal and musical tickets are always sold online, this was the first time sales have expanded to food items.

“We’re really impressed with the positive response and people’s patience as we’ve navigated this,” she said. “We’re trying to maximize what we are able to do in the midst of COVID and are excited to be able to do this.”

 

Related Posts
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store


Editor’s Picks
Most Read
AREA WIDE CONNECTION TO CEASE OPERATION JULY 1
news
AREA WIDE CONNECTION TO CEASE OPERATION JULY 1
By Jeremy Waltner 
June 11, 2025
The Area Wide Connection, a free-distribution advertising publication of Second Century Publishing, Inc. that serves residents of Hutchinson, Turner a...
this is a test
SAARIE AND HIS STOLEN POLARIS RANGER; THE REPORT
news
SAARIE AND HIS STOLEN POLARIS RANGER; THE REPORT
By Jeremy Waltner 
July 5, 2025
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story will appear in print in the July 9 issue of The Courier. Three individuals have been arrested and are facing state felony ch...
this is a test
FOR GOOD
news
FOR GOOD
By Jeremy Waltner 
June 18, 2025
Freeman 39-year-old recognized nationally for her work as an adoption specialist with the Children’s Home Society of South Dakota — but this is not ab...
this is a test
ALL IN THE FAMILY
news
ALL IN THE FAMILY
By Jeremy Waltner 
July 1, 2025
Forty-two years ago, his Grandpa Ted took over Ferd’s Market and renamed it Ted’s Market. Ten years after that, his dad, Bob, took over Ted’s Market a...
this is a test
PHOTO OF THE DAY: TACO TIME!
photo day
PHOTO OF THE DAY: TACO TIME!
By Jeremy Waltner 
June 13, 2025
Armando Cortez is enjoying the beautiful Friday morning and one of his passions — cooking — at his home at 300 S. Dewald in Freeman. Cortez is serving...
this is a test
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
Freeman Courier

Stay tuned with us

Accessibility Policy
Privacy
Forms

Copyright © Freeman Courier. All rights reserved.