SHILOH — For Paul Brown, Shiloh Fireman’s Association Treasurer, two days each July revolve around one thing, beef.
That’s 10,000-pounds of beef, to be exact.
Preparations are in full swing ahead of the 57th annual Fireman’s Ox Roast, taking place on July 28 and 29.
“Get to the festival early, if you really want some,” Brown said.
Brown, who’s served as treasurer for over a decade, said the beef is the staple of the festival.
“People need to come by mid-day on Friday or Saturday. The last few years, we’ve sold out of beef before the parade,” Brown said.
Food vendors open for business Friday at 11 a.m. with several options available for those in attendance.
The fire department will have ox roast beef sandwiches priced at $5 each.
“It’s quite an operation to prep the beef and get it ready to sell,” Brown said.
A large group of volunteers will gather Thursday to help trim the meat, which Brown said is all the same cut of beef. This process takes 3-4 hours.
Next, the meat will be transferred to the 100-foot in-ground pit to cook. The beef will be taken out of the pit around 8 a.m. Saturday morning and placed into roasters for an additional two hours to finish cooking.
Once finished, the beef will be trimmed again, sliced with industrial equipment and ready to sell after a near 18-hour process, start to finish.
Options, besides the famed beef, include homemade potato salad, baked beans, hot dogs, coney dogs, fresh-baked local pies and cakes, as well as Pepsi products, water and free coffee.
These items, as well as bulk sales, will be available at the fire station at 11 N. Delaware St.
Purchases from the fire department must be made using cash. Checks will be accepted for large bulk sales. All proceeds go towards the Shiloh Firemen’s Association, a non-profit corporation.
“It provides a huge amount of funding to the fire department, which we use for equipment and vehicles,” Brown said.
Brown included that funds raised from the festival also contribute towards fire safety education courses the department provides at area schools.
It also supports the department’s public relations, such as distributing smoke detectors in the community.
Other festival treats will include French fries, fried vegetables, elephant ears, funnel cakes, kettle corn, fried cheese on a stick, freshly squeezed lemonade and the Grub Brothers food truck. Mount Hope Lutheran Church will be selling sweet corn as part of a church fundraiser.
Food vendors will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
A garden tractor pull is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the dirt track located behind the sheriff’s office.
The event will feature the Tri-County Garden Tractor Pullers, a garden tractor club located in north central Ohio.
Live music will be performed by Rolling Outta Cleveland from 8 to 11 p.m. by the American Legion Post 503 at 4 ½ E. Main St. The group is based out of Willard, OH and performs a mixture of country and rock ‘n’ roll music.
The festival’s opening day will conclude with the annual fireworks display at dark.
Fireworks will be launched from behind the old middle school. Spectators are encouraged to watch from the Main St. area, where the display can be seen without obstruction.
“If you’re downtown, you’ll see them,” Brown said.
Activities resume Saturday with a pedal tractor pull, open to ages 3 to 8, at 11 a.m.
Kickin’ Grass, a bluegrass music group, will be performing from 2 to 4 p.m. followed by the Laredo Band, performing old-school country line dance songs, from 8 to 11 p.m.
Saturday’s live music performances will also take place at the village bandstand at 4½ E. Main St. All shows at this year’s festival are free admission to the public.
The grand finale of the festival is the annual parade, which travels down W. Main St. at 7 p.m.
For more information, visit https://shilohfire.net/shiloh-fire-department.