If you’ve paid attention to Kentucky politics in the last century, you’ll know that the annual Fancy Farm Picnic at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Graves County marks the unofficial kick-off of the fall campaign season and Saturday marks 138 years of the picnic. It boasts 19,000 pounds of barbecue and visitors from across the state and around the country. It's a day of food, fun and politicking, and it’s all made possible through the commitment of the families who call Fancy Farm home.
According to Steven Elder when the 137th picnic was over, planning started for the 138th.
Elder’s family has been in Fancy Farm since 1880. That was the first year for the St. Jerome’s church picnic. For generations the Elders have been responsible for chopping up and deboning the meat coming off the pits and selling it by the pound while other families, the Hobbs’ and the Pendel’s, sell it by the sandwich.
Elder said, “my great grandfather George Elder, taught my grandfather John Elder, how to do it, and then my father, Joey Elder, myself Steven and my son Baker now, who’s 8 years old, stocks the shelves with more barbecue sauce and more buns to sell that day out of the meat stand as well. It’s one of those traditions that you know your role whenever you’re born and you know your role whenever you join the church.”
The tradition and family ties were on display at St. Jerome’s a week before the picnic. Dozens of able-bodied men had gathered to prepare the barbecue pits. The women and older family members spent the morning preparing lunch for those working the pits. Over the loud hum of generators and pressure washers Todd Hayden discussed his family’s role.
“Our family, the Carrico’s and the Hobbs’ are the ones who barbecue the meat, and ever since I was 9 or 10 years old I’ve been out here helping with it,” Hayden said.
Even though politics is a big draw at Fancy Farm. Hayden says that’s not what it’s about to many in the community.
“The politicians, what they do for us is give us advertisement more than anything,” Hayden said. “It lets everybody know, it’s that time of year, we can go down and get some barbecue, or we can go play some bingo, or we can go down and get a good meal. You know, then some people come strictly for the politics but that’s not the reason we do it. It’s more of a tradition, a family affair. It’s when, if you have relatives that live away from here, it’s when they come home.”
And when they come home they’re put to work. Freddy Wilson and his family staff the kitchen serving and preparing food at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
“Starting at about 8 o’clock Saturday morning we’ll be up there starting getting the food ready, and of course, starting at approximately 11, we serve continuous until 7 or 7:30 at night,” Wilson said.
10,000 pounds of pork, 9,000 pounds of mutton, 100 gallons of corn, thousands of pounds of potatoes, hundreds of desserts and plenty of hard work for the many families who attend St. Jerome’s. On picnic day, Steven Elder said the meat stand sells about $1000 dollars of barbecue every 15 minutes. The commitment of the families of Fancy Farm is inspiring and so is the picnic itself. Steven Elder has served as a city councilman in Leitchfield, KY and currently in Mayfield, and he says much of that is due to growing up in Fancy Farm.
“When I was a kid it was all about the games, and the excitement and I’d drink as many slushies as I possibly could and play as much ring toss as I could,” Elder said. “Then I really got political. So when I was a kid and I started to get interested in it, I would always sneak up to that political stand and I’d want to see the politicians. It just intrigued me so much, that that many people would come into our little town, just to stand on a platform and start speaking.”
This year’s picnic will draw many people from across Kentucky and the nation to Fancy Farm for food, games and politicking. It’s been a year in the making with months of planning and preparation. But for any of those who have called Fancy Farm home, or trace their roots back to this hamlet in western Graves county, the first weekend in August will always mean the same thing.
Steven Elder says, “ultimately, we all know what the real reason we have the picnic is and that’s just to come together for a homecoming.”
