It doesn’t get much better than a day at the Swinkey Picnic

INDIAN CREEK, Mo. — If it’s 102 degrees in the shade in mid-July, then it must be time for the St. Stephen’s Parish picnic.

Sunday’s temperatures in the mid 80s made for an uncharacteristically perfect day.

St. Stephen’s, commonly known as Swinkey, was established in 1833. It is the oldest Catholic parish in the Diocese of Jefferson City, The official mailing address is Monroe City, but the church is in Indian Creek, a tiny hamlet a couple of miles west of Monroe City on U.S. 24. 

The parish claims its annual summer picnic is the oldest in the state. I’ve been going since I can remember.

My grandfather owned the local Gambles store in Monroe City and typically donated many of the prizes for the BINGO games. My grandmother usually donated a half-dozen pies and cooked several chickens, and she could be found during the picnic in the corner of the gym, selling raffle tickets for a quilt — one she likely made herself, even when she was in her 80s.

Now the picnic offers a chance to hang out with my dad, one of the last graduates of the high school at St. Stephen’s, and catch up with all kinds of family. It’s the one time every year I typically can count on seeing my godmother.

I will never forget two things as a kid. My first experience of understanding politics was watching State Rep. Harold Volkmer climb onto the back of a trailer and give a speech. He probably recited the same one for 20 years. Also, I remember watching a group of women clogging on the sidewalk outside the church. They usually were sweating bullets in the sweltering heat. (I believe the cloggers have retired. Too dang hot.)

The highlight of the picnic is, of course, the food. For $10, you get chicken, ham, potato salad, pasta salad and the freshest corn, green beans and tomatoes you can find in the Midwest. (The green beans are unquestionably the best.) Top it off with a selection of fabulous homemade pies.

After lunch, it’s usually time to head to the BINGO games. I can remember my grandfather calling out the numbers when I was a kid. I think I called BINGO once when I was 10 at the Swinkey picnic. However, on Sunday with at least a hundred cards being played, Dad won the first time he sat down. My daughter Jamie won about five minutes later. Jamie won a plant. Dad won some kind of combo flashlight/pen/lantern thingamajig. (I was only an O71 away from the pleasure of shouting “BINGO!”)

The picnic offers a horseshoe tournament, a dart board that my uncle has worked at for years, a knock-the-milk-bottles-over contest (the winners get a bicycle) and a bunch of games for young kids.

As one person told me today, the Swinkey Picnic is a little slice of Americana.

I’ll be back again for as long as I can.

Just make sure there are plenty of green beans.