Candlelight Dinners on the Prairie A Success

Good food and good fun awaited the patrons of the Candlelight Dinner on the Prairie.

Once again, Darke County Parks hosted the Candlelight Dinners on the Prairie on Saturday October 24th and Saturday November 7th. Though the first dinner began with quite a bit of rain, everyone stayed warm and snug by the fire in the log house. Visitors were welcomed and split into two groups, the Wilcox and Harlett families. The cabins of these two families were used to construct the current log house at Shawnee Prairie.

The dinner guests enjoyed demonstrations of the Park District’s Bake Oven by Dudley Hansbarger and a spinning demonstration from John Heater, both Park District volunteers. Then they enjoyed their meal. The October dinner featured both beef and venison as the main course, and the second dinner featured ham and turkey. This year’s full menu included cinnamon-spiced sweet potato soup, green beans with salt pork, carrots and walnuts, brown rice pilaf, and artisan bread. Apple cobbler starred in the dessert course. The Park District would like to extend a huge thank you to Roger Van Frank for his portrayal of Samuel Huston and Tom Franklin for his portrayal of David Conner as the evenings’ entertainment.

This was the 5th year of hosting the Candlelight Dinners at the Prairie. Laura Schwieterman, the evening’s organizer, said, “It is amazing to see how many people are willing to come out for a unique evening at our log house. It’s a huge relief once the meal is served, and you are no longer concerned about something cooking dry in the dutch oven, another wonderful year for the candlelight dinners.” She also expressed lots of thanks to all who attended and to all the volunteers who helped to make the evening a success whether by cleaning before, preparing food, serving, or cleaning up after. The Candlelight Dinners on the Prairie are an annual event, and everyone is invited out next year to help support the log house and enjoy an evening lost in history.