Markieren Sie Ihre Kalender! (Mark your calendar!) Corn Bible Academy’s annual German Feast and Auction will be held Saturday, April 9th. This year marks the 58th feast and auction. The widely known legacy of the German Americans who founded Corn continues to thrive through the students, staff, and volunteers. The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at 7.m. at the Academy, 208 Reimer St in Corn, OK.
Charles Regier, the school’s Director of Development, said the money raised will go towards the general operation of the school. “We are so thankful for how [the German Feast and auction] subsidizes our budget to pay our teachers’ salaries and to pay the ongoing daily needs that we have.”
Regier said the Feast has been a tremendous benefit for many reasons.
“It provides good public relations for the school and for the people to learn a little bit more about what we are doing. I know that they are coming to enjoy the food, but they are also able to come on the campus and meet the students. Our students are serving and to me it’s a good way for people to learn more about CBA.”
Thirteen settlers have been credited with founding this small Washita County town in 1892, whose name was originally spelled Korn. It wasn’t until 1918 that the town was forced to change the spelling to Corn due to anti-German sentiment in the United States following the war.
At the German Feast, attendees can learn more about the establishment of the school in 1902. With this being the last feast to be held in Corn, due to CBA moving to their new and larger facility in Clinton, OK, Regier said this year’s feast will be bittersweet.
“We have been in this building [in Corn] now for 42 years and we know how to do it here but it is always crammed full. We are excited to be in a larger facility. The fact of the history behind this and the people of the Corn area that have kept this going for years and years, that part is bittersweet. For those people that have put so much effort and resources into this they think, ‘well is it going to be the same?’ and I’m committed to say that it is going to be very much the same. That’s why we have people that continue to work on the auxiliary, the Superintendent and all the teachers - they will be the same for the most part. It will still be the same just in a larger place.”
This year’s attendees will be served a meal of the cottage cheese dumplings called verenika smothered in a ham onion gravy, plus zwieback, smoked sausage, grilled sausage, cherry mousse and fried raisin fritters called New Year’s cookies. "The weeks leading up to German Feast the Ladies Auxiliary prep all of the items that will be served like home made mustard and the ingredients for New Years cookies. The Friday before German Feast we fry at least 4,000 New Years cookies. Everything is fine tuned to the finest detail," stated Danyal Walters, Ladies Auxiliary. "I have been involved since my daughter Delicity was a seventh grader when I join Ladies Auxiliary 5 years ago. I absolutely love it! I love our school, our kids, our teachers, and our staff! Every single year is a blessing! I get to visit to people and help them enjoy a yummy meal! The last feast held in corn this is super sweet! It will be the best yet," said expressed Walters.
Those who aren’t quite up to such a feast will be able to purchase a smoked sausage sandwich meal. The food will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5 to 7 p.m.
Cost for the verenika feast is $15 for adults and $10 for children, ages four to eleven, while the sausage meal is $10. Meal tickets are available in advance by calling the school at (580) 343-2262 or by visiting the academy’s website.
Tickets also will be available at the door on the day of the event. Curbside pickup will be available this year as well.
Those who wish to pickup can do so by calling the school to schedule their pickup. In addition to the meals, visitors will have opportunities to purchase items at silent and live auctions.
The silent auction will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m. The live auction will begin promptly at 1 p.m. Supporters of CBA have donated a vast variety of handmade quilts, afghans, tools, furniture and so much more.
Regier stated that this will be his 57th year to be a part of the German Feast and auction. He said the Feast started his first year at CBA in the spring of 1965.
“I didn’t help start it, but it was started at an all school picnic that we always have every year. At that picnic in 1965, this group of ladies said that they needed to do something more to help out the school financially but also something that will help maintain the German ethnic, and something that can continue even after we are all gone. That’s where it began.”
CBA has an adoration for the Corn community and surrounding areas that come out and support such an event.
“I’ve always appreciated the entire community and extended communities all around Corn that come to support the German Feast and we’d like to see a large group come out to our last time at Corn. We appreciate the support from each one of you. So thank you for considering to come and enjoy the day with us,” expressed Regier.