It's All About that 'Secret' Sauce and the Beef - Grange BBQ is a Long-standing Tradition in Harpersfield

HARPERSFIELD  - The annual Barbecued Beef Dinner, sponsored by the Colonel Harper Grange, is a  tradition that has been shared by generations over at least the last 75 years. There are new generations barbecuing the beef and making the "secret" sauce, but it remains a favorite event of summer. 

The Page family has long been a part of the tradition. I have not missed a beef barbecue since I was quite small. In those days you had to know someone to get tickets and my parents often extended an invitation to only the closest family members or friends and summer vacations were sometimes planned around the dinner.

"We used to try to make it back to New York so we could attend the barbecue," said Art Page. He remembers how we used to groan as kids when we saw how long the line was outside the grange hall. However, as we got older, we began to understand that was part of the attraction, seeing people you only saw that one time per year and socializing while you waited your turn.

Once inside I was always  relieved to sit with someone we knew, but that didn't always happen, so it was also a place to meet new folks. They would call out there was a spot for two, or four or however many needed to complete a table. The tables were always full and if you waited tables, you kept a table of ten supplied with all they could eat and you did five seatings. You got your exercise going back and forth to the kitchen. The meal, if you had enough room left, was topped off with homemade pie, of several varieties. Some asked for recommendations or they would see their favorite pass by for another table and put in an order.

Dave Ogborn believes the dinner started in 1955, but it may have been as early as 1949. Know one will swear on a bible, but it has been going on for a very long time. He said Jay Silvernail and Joe Davenport were among the original grangers who were looking for a good fundraiser. He believes they may have also helped the Franklin Grange for a couple of years as well. Both were active grange members who have long since passed, but they started something that continues to be the largest fundraiser for the Colonel Harper Grange, despite changes over the years.

We were on Jay Silvernail's ticket list. He had a list of his customers who got "first dibs" on the tickets, before they were offered to anyone else. When Mr. Silvernail passed, we were taken over by Harold Bedford. 

Ogborn said it truly is a "secret" sauce, successfully concocted, he believes, by Jay Silvernail and Leta Adair. Those who prepare it are sworn not to give it out.

"It is really amazing how people came back year after year," said Ogborn. "We lost some people when we moved to take-out only, due the pandemic, but we have still managed to keep it going."

He thanks grange neighbor Ted Dziewit for helping them over the years and was the main reason they were able to continue the dinner through the pandemic, by allowing them to use his property. 

What hasn't changed is the slow cooking of the beef on spits over an open fire pit. "They used to crank the meat by hand all day long," said Ogborn. He remembers Leonard Adair was one of the members who  would tend to the basting and cranking throughout the day. There were four rods of meat or 700 pounds of beef cooked. They sold 800 tickets.

Now they sell around 500 tickets. No longer doing the sit-down family-style has hurt them, according to Ogborn,  but it was a very labor intensive undertaking. Even with the take-outs, it takes everyone to pull it off. They work like a well-oiled machine and it is all hands on deck, plus a few volunteers. 

Rich Beers remembers being recruited by Joe Davenport and his wife, Grace, as a kid, to help wait tables. He said that was before the current grange was built and  meetings were held at the North Harpersfield Grange.

As an adult, he has always purchased tickets. "You can't beat it, taste-wise. It's just so good. They do it the old fashioned way. They work hard at it and it is for a good cause. My wife and I played golf on Thursday nights and we would always rush down to eat after playing golf. I always got tickets for the office staff. I do miss the sit-down dinner and the homemade pie, but it is still well worth it," he said.

This year the grangers are worried about the price of the tickets, which is driven by the price of beef. As everyone knows, the price of beef in the supermarket is well beyond what anyone ever imagined they would pay for beef in the United States. And is isn't just the beef, the corn, the potatoes and the rolls. Everything costs more, narrowing the fundraising margin a lot. 

The meat is now turned on an electric spit, but it is still tended all day by grangers for that slow cooked taste. The meal consists of a pound of beef, ample "secret" sauce, corn, a baked potato, roll and cookies for dessert.

And Charlie Ferris will tell you the reason everyone keeps going back is for the beef and that "secret" sauce. "It's the beef itself, and the sauce," he said. He has been getting his tickets for years from Dave Ogborn.

The dinner has always been the major fundraiser for the grange which is a nationwide, rural community service organization based on a fraternal structure. First geared to the agriculture community it is now open to a diverse community and has existed in northern Delaware County since 1929. In three years they will be celebrating a century.

Like everything else, their numbers are dwindling along with their longtime patrons. If you would like to be a member of grange, contact a grange member. They hold pot luck dinners and often have programs open to the community that are helpful and educational.

The grange also honors someone in the community each year with the Community Citizen Award. It is presented to someone who has done a great deal for the community. The only other fundraiser the  grange has will be during the Stamford Yard Sale Day on Aug. 8 when they will set up at the former Catskill Craftsman to sell items donated by the Grange. The grange hall is also available for rent for special occasions. There have been weddings, and birthdays and anniversaries held there.

This year, tickets are $25 each and pre-sale only, by calling 607-652-6792. The dinner is set for Thursday, Aug. 27 from 4-6:30 p.m and is take-out only. As someone pointed out, there is no tip and no sales tax. Don’t wait to get your tickets, they sell out fast.