SHILOH — The quiet village of Shiloh will not be so quiet Friday and Saturday during the village’s 48th annual ox roast.
The Shiloh Fire Department will be serving up 8,200 pounds of beef bought from Gwirts Foods in Shelby to the hundreds of ox roast attendees. Hungry ox roasters can purchase shredded beef sandwiches at $3.50 per sandwich as well as homemade potato salads, baked beans, and pie.
“We get so many pies donated to us from around the village. So, you can come here and enjoy a homemade meal. We prepare our own beef, the wives make homemade potato salad and the villagers make pies,” said Attractions Coordinator and Volunteer Firefighter Tim Swartz.
The Shiloh Fire Department combines with firefighters from Cass and Blooming Grove to form the Firefighters Association, which is made up of 32 firefighters. Hundreds of volunteers pitch in to help run the event.
“We normally get about 400 people to work the entire ox roast. All of the volunteers are from non-profit organizations. We make sure to give back to the organizations in order to show our thanks for their help,” volunteer firefighter Jeff Burrer said. “ We even have a group that refuses to take the money, so, we make a donation to Toy Time in their name.
The ox roast will feature a few new attractions. A Kiddie Tractor Pull will take place with pedal tractors at the outdoor basketball courts on Saturday at 11 a.m. The event is open to children ages 3 to 8 years old.
“We were able to also get Timeout Amusement to come back after three years away. They are bringing in a rock wall for us. We also upgraded our electricity so that we can get some better rides in here for the kids,” Swartz added.
All proceeds will be used by the Fireman’s Association to purchase upgraded equipment.
“Over the past 10 years, we have been able to provide over $400,000 to purchasing equipment from the ox roast alone. We are doing all that we can to save the taxpayers some money, and I think we have been doing a great job at it,” Burrer added. “We just ordered a squad that is going to run us close to $200,000 total, but we are going to be able to make that a lot less cost to the taxpayers after this ox roast.”
Burrer has been volunteering at the ox roast for 28 years. “My wife was pregnant with our firstborn at the very first ox roast we worked at, and now he is out here volunteering as well.”
Swartz has been involved for 13 years and just recently took over the duties of finding and booking attractions.
Along with Burrer and Swartz, Joe Miller has 35 years of Ox Roasting under his belt and Howard Cuppy is an original member of the very first ox roast 48 years ago who still helps out any way he can.
Don’t like shredded beef? There are still plenty of other foods to chow down on. The Fire Department will offer sloppy joes and hot dogs along side their famous beef. There will also be around 10 different vendors to serve everything from corn on the cob to ice cream.
On Saturday, a garden tractor pull will be held at 6:30 p.m. Live music will feature Free Beer Band on Friday night from 8 p.m. to11 p.m. as well as the Boogie Hill Band on Saturday night from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. A gospel band, Mid-Ohio Community Band, will perform on Saturday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and a parade will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
“We have a lot going on and we are crossing our fingers for great weather. We have had rain three of the past four years which really hurt us, but our goal every year is to sell out of beef by the parade on Saturday. If we have great weather, we may sell out before then,” Burrer added.
