60th Annual Home Products Dinner Set For September 19

Things are falling in to place as organizers work to continue "Still Diamond Strong" with the 60th Annual Home Products Dinner September 19.

Be sure to get your "buttons" now for $12 each to take part in this six decade old event in Ulysses. Buttons can be purchased at: American Implement, Bank of Ulysses, City Hall, Dream First Bank, Golden Plains Credit Union, Grant County Bank, Ulysses Chamber of Commerce, Grant County Drug, Grant County Senior Center, Lowe's Market, The Ulysses News and Mandy Jane's.

The History

Courtesy Grant County Chamber of Commerce

During the 1941 Kansas Legislative Session in the state capitol of Topeka, Representative Will Christian from rural Grant County had been bragging he could prepare an entire dinner using only food grown and produced in Grant County. By the 1940’s commercial irrigation was widespread in Southwest Kansas,making it possible for Representative Christian to make this claim. During the Fall of 1941, Representative Christian hosted a dinner in Grant County for 12 of his fellow legislators and the Lieutenant Governor. Representative Christian’s wife, Nora, prepared this home products dinner in their ranch home in rural Grant County, and served the party in their dining room. The dinner became an annual event for the Christian’s until Christian’s retirement from the Kansas Legislature. In 1962, the Grant County Chamber and several local citizens revived the dinner, naming it the Grant County Home Products Dinner.

It was still a showcase of locally grown products, but it evolved into an event where the public and elected politicians were invited.

In September 1963 the first “modern” Dinner was served. Today the dinner serves approximately 1,500 people every year. Over the course of the 40-plus years it has been served, the menu has remained essentially unchanged. Barbeque beef is the main course, served with scalloped potatoes, baked pinto beans, candied sweet squash, cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, whole wheat rolls, strawberry jam, watermelon, ice cream and milo doughnuts.

Every year it takes approximately 800 pounds of beef to supply the main course, along with 4,000 cherry tomatoes, a pickup load or two of sweet corn, 2,000 milo doughnuts, 100 pounds of pinto beans, 400 pounds of potatoes, 1,800 whole wheat rolls, 50 squash, 40 pounds of strawberries, and 50 watermelons.

The Grant County Chamber is still very involved with the event, and has an eight-person Home Products Dinner committee to coordinate it. The committee is a four-year commitment, allowing committee members to learn the process of putting it together in steps. By the time the food is served, the committee will have coordinated approximately 700 volunteers and 50 clubs to help with everything from picking and shucking sweet corn to setting up chairs and tables.

The Home Products Dinner is served every year on the third Tuesday of September. Planning begins November of the preceding year. Over the course of 11 months, the committee picks entertainment, chooses a theme and complimenting artwork, coordinates with local farmers to grow the products needed, and begins to solicit donations such as plastic ware, cups, and coloring supplies for the young children in attendance.

Depending on the maturation of the sweet corn crop, the first work day for the committee and the community volunteers is corn day,usually during July or August. On that day, the sweet corn is picked from the field, shucked, cut off the cob, cooked, and put in the freezer for storage until the dinner in September.

Over the following two months committee members coordinate the gathering of potatoes during harvest, as well as pinto beans, and the collection of wheat flour for the rolls and milo flour for the doughnuts from local farmers. During the week before, the committee swings into full action, picking tomatoes, squash and watertermelons. They then distribute products to local clubs and schools to be prepared. Additionally, the committee is responsible for cooking the barbeque beef the night before.

In addition to food, the committee is responsible for setting up the local Civic Center.

With help from community groups and companies, tables and chairs for 1,500 people are set up, and the Civic Center is decorated. Following the meal, the committee coordinates clean-up of the Civic Center and the kitchen and the return of decorative items.

A commemorative button featuring that year’s artwork is the admittance ticket. The button can be purchased at several local businesses for $12. The money raised supports scholarships for local Grant County youth who have graduated from high school and are attending college. Over the past 15 years, more than $100,000.00 has been awarded to local high school seniors.

For more information about this event, contact Grant County Chamber of Commerce at (620) 356-4700, or online at www.ulysseschamber.com.