SHILOH – Beer gardens and live music flank the midway. The sounds of revving tractor engines, kicking up clouds of dust, is only overwhelmed by the screeching and honking of seemingly miles of train cars.
The sound, sight and smell could only be that of an afternoon at the Shiloh Firemen’s Ox Roast.
Shiloh’s annual summer festival kicked off Friday at 11 a.m. with approximately 100,000 pounds of slow-cooked beef, going on until dark, when the night capped off with fireworks. Proceeds from the 50 tons of meat, made into sandwiches and sold for $5.50, went directly to purchasing fire and medical equipment for the Shiloh-Cass-Bloominggrove Firefighters Association.
Sprinkled between Friday’s events was live music – from Matt J. Chase and Michael Boldy, as well as Dad Band – with carnival food and games. The garden tractor pull was the afternoon’s main event, kicking off at 6:30 p.m. The pull pitted two tractors against one another, hitched at the ends, as they pulled against one another to see which had the most horsepower.
After sundown, Shiloh residents and visitors were given a fireworks show, lining up their cars and setting up their lawn chairs to watch from fields used for parking.
Ox Roast festivities will continue Saturday, with more live music from Marsh Run and Southern Thunder, and a parade down Main Street at 7 p.m.
Photos from Shiloh’s Firemen’s Ox Roast Festival on Friday. Credit: Logan Adams
