Hamburg locals and new and returning tourists gathered downtown on Saturday, Aug. 30, to enjoy the 11th Annual Taste of Hamburg-er Festival.
Hosted every year during the Labor Day weekend by Hamburg’s community revitalization corporation, Our Town Foundation, the event is the largest day of sales for a lot of the small downtown businesses and is considered to be a homecoming for many residents bringing friends and families together.
Among 36 participating burger stands were local restaurants, churches, clubs, and organizations. Boy Scout Troop 184 served their Scoutmaster, Eagle, First Class and Cub burgers while Deitsch Eck served up its famous Luther burger, which includes a bacon cheeseburger on a glazed donut bun.
Red Robin, one of the festival’s sponsors, served gourmet burgers alongside their famous Freckled Lemonade. Other participating burger stands were Caribbean Cuisine, CC’s Wooden Grill, Christ Evangelical Free Church, CMSGT Richard Etchberger Foundation, Fire & Spice BBQ, First UCC, Good Eat’n, Gourmand LLC, Grumpy’s BBQ, Hamburg Jaycees, Hamburg Lions Club, Hamburg Sports Boosters, The Inn of Orwigsburg, Joe Bury’s Famous Hamburgers, Kooper’s Tavern/Kooper’s Chowhound Burger Wagon, Penn Werner Hotel, Pretzel Revolution, Ray’s Catering, RK Mobile Foods, Royal Order of Raccoons, Salem EC Church, Schaeffer Concessions, Smokey Bear BBQ, Spuds LLC, Templin’s Soggie Bottom Grill LLC, The Traveling Curbside Grill LLC, Twisted Twins Salsa Company, Uncle Paul’s Stuffed Pretzels, Vaux Masonic Lodge #406, Weis Markets, Pops Original Screamer Sauce LLC, Smokin’ Bull and PC Catering.
The biggest hit of the day turned out to be Salem EC Church’s stand. The church left with a clean sweep in the “Best Burger by an Organization” category winning best overall burger, best in appearance, taste, originality and best value. Their burger included a hand-made patty topped with specially prepared pulled-pork, citrus barbecue sauce and Fuji apple slaw.
While hamburgers may be the theme of the event, there was more to offer for festival-goers. Entertainment was available throughout the day at five different stages with music from bands and solo artists, dancers and other performers.
Events and contests were open for the public’s participation throughout the day. The Dine and Dash Trail Race kicked off at 11 a.m. Racers were required to scarf down a burger, run into the woods, eat another burger and race back. Participants enjoyed themselves, dressing up in costumes and keeping it light-hearted as the race began.
The WEEU Mooing Contest took place at noon. Contestants gave their most realistic impressions of a cow and were judged based on the audience’s cheering and applause.
Of course, the biggest event of the day was the Amateur and Professional Hamburg Eating contests. Participants in the amateur competition competed in teams of three and battled to see which team could eat ten burgers the fastest while the professionals ate as many burgers as they could stomach in ten minutes. Jamie “The Bear” McDonald, returning champion, set a new record this year winning the competition by eating 13 and a half burgers. The event was sponsored Red Robin and Cabela’s, both in Hamburg.
While guests walked the festival, they could stop at a variety of stands set up by local businesses, organizations, artists and crafters.
LaneECreations, an independent business run by Elaine Hilbert, had a stand set up selling eco-friendly, hand-made jewelry.
“I started the business in 2009,” said Hilbert. “At the time, the economy was really bad, and a lot of jobs were on the chopping block.”
Hilbert is an art teacher at Fleetwood High School. Her love for arts and crafts led her to create a supplemental business that she could enjoy.
“It is quicker to make jewelry than to sit down and draw or paint something,” she said. “It’s something people like.”
Hilbert sells her pieces at local craft shows. It was her fourth year at the Hamburg-er Festival. The festival usually brings her best sales of the year.
“It’s highly publicized, and there is a lot of foot traffic,” she said.
Jen Shirey, another local, had a stand set up for her business AbundaScents. She crafts 100 percent hand-poured candles, among other aromatic items.
“I like to repurpose things,” she said. “I scout flea markets, and a lot of times friends will bring me things they find for me to use. I like being creative. It’s my stress relief.”
This was Shirey’s first year at the Hamburg-er Festival. She started her business 17 years ago, and she likes to sell her items at local craft shows, as well.
“I look for shows with a lot of homemade stuff because people appreciate it more,” she said.
Shirey had her daughter helping her for the day at her Fourth Street stand.
While many artists and crafters brought their businesses to the festival, Shirley Dierolf had the festival brought to her.
Dierolf runs a small shop named Blue Mountain Herbals on State Street in Hamburg. The festival is her best sales day of the year, alongside the Christmas season.
“The shop has been open for 27 years,” she said. “For seven years before this I was up on North Fourth Street, and the shop has been here now for 20 years.”
Dierolf sells herbs, spices, supplements, candles, oils, incense, teas and a variety of other unique gift items.
Dierolf is a member of the Our Town Foundation.
“I have been a member since before it was even called the Our Town Foundation,” she said.
Dierolf’s business is the type that the OTF is working to revitalize and preserve.
For locals, tourists, businesses and artists alike, the Taste of Hamburg-er Festival was a day to come together and celebrate the community of Hamburg. For it’s 11th year, the streets were flooded with people, the vendors and locals did great business and the festival, as a whole, was once again a success.
