Buffalo Days a success

LUVERNE — Kettle Corn was consumed, buffalo chips were flipped and parade watchers enjoyed the procession during Buffalo Days in Luverne over the weekend.

Rain put a damper on things, but not for long, according to Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge.

“Everything went fine until the rains came around 1 p.m.,” Verbrugge said Saturday afternoon. “But people came back after the rain.”

While it may have been pouring rain in other areas around southwest Minnesota, Luverne got lucky.

“During the parade at 10 a.m., everything was fine, but it was actually raining over by the hospital a couple blocks away,” Verbrugge reported.

The crowd over by the Dakota Dutchers booth during the Arts in Park event was constant, he added.

Several members of the Dakota Dutchers, a South Dakota chapter of the International Dutch Oven Association, made their first appearance at Buffalo Days, with demonstrations of their craft. They handed out samples of their wares that had been cooked on site that included peach cobbler, bread pudding, BBQ and fresh-baked rolls.

Dallas and Carol Dohlman of Magnolia said the people who came through the Dutchers booth were pleased with the free samples that were handed out. Their club, they said, meets the first Sunday of every month at Nybergs Ace Hardware in Sioux Falls, S.D., exchanging recipes and having fun.

“Anything you can make in your oven at home, you can make in a Dutch oven,” Dallas stated.

Jason Griffith, who lives east of Dell Rapids, S.D., was handing out samples of a spicy BBQ on freshly made buns. He gets involved in two or three Dutch oven cooking demonstrations and competitions a year, and was awarded first place last year for his cinnamon swirl bread at the Spirit of the West Festival in Sioux Falls.

Griffith got interested in Dutch oven cooking several years ago, he said, while watching a cooking show on TV.

“I had a Dutch oven, and one day I caught a show on RFDTV. They were showing a piece about cooking in a Dutch oven,” Griffith said. “I watched it and thought, ‘I can do that.’”

Toward the end of the day, Travis and Shannon Dwire, who live east of Luverne, wandered over to the Dutcher booth to sample the wares.

“When we go camping, this is all we ever do,” Shannon stated.

“We watch people pull out their grills and their camp stoves,” Travis commented. “We roll out our Dutch oven and people look at us funny, but later the smells bring them over. ‘We didn’t know people actually do this in real life,’ they say.”

It isn’t uncommon, Travis said, for him and Shannon to end up showing people how to cook in the ovens. Somehow, he said, they always seem to end up inviting people over for breakfast.

“I learned most of this in boy scouts,” Travis admitted.

“I hear that so much,” Griffith laughed, and provided the couple with information about the Dakota Dutchers.

The history of the Dutch oven in America dates back to Lewis and Clark, Carol said, and the ovens were peddled by Dutch immigrants in early American history, used by pilgrims, colonials, miners and settlers. The cast iron ovens can be used by settling the pot over a bed of coals or suspending it on a tripod. If seasoned correctly, Griffith said, nothing will stick to the cookware.

“Dutch ovens are considered the first non-stick pots and pans,” he laughed.

He and Dallas even had hints for getting rust off old cast iron items.

“This is what our group is all about,” Griffith said. “Sharing stories and learning from each other and having fun.”

Carol said she and Dallas have several Dutch oven cookbooks and occasionally pull them out to try something new, but Dallas is even a little more adventurous.

“You name it, I’ll try cooking it,” he said with a grin.

It is just like cooking in an oven at home, he reiterated, but sometimes compensations need to be made for outdoor temperature or wind.

More information on the Dakota Dutchers can be found on the International Dutch Oven Society’s website at www.idos.com

Tags: news, buffalo, days, luverne, kettle, chips