We had a great time on Friday and Saturday of this week at the 60th annual Ohio Swiss Festival in Sugarcreek, Ohio, also know as the “Little Switzerland of Ohio”. Last year at the festival it was cold and rainy almost the whole time from Thursday thru Saturday. Fortunately this year Friday and Saturday, the two biggest days of the festival, the weather was about as good as you could ask for. It was a whirlwind weekend for us, Friday afternoon and evening at the Swiss Festival, Saturday morning and afternoon at a wedding in Pittsburg, Saturday evening at the Swiss Festival, and a trip to Hartville on Sunday. The Swiss Festival is one of our favorite festivals of the year in Amish country. This year a new “food” addition to the festival was the Amish Country Donuts stand. Wanda says she’s not a “donut person” but she sure likes these. I think she advertised the Amish donuts to everybody we ran into. I must say we both agree that the are “the best donuts we have ever eaten”. By the looks of the long lines at the donut stand, I think a lot of people agree. Someone told us they waited for twenty minutes in the line just to get a donut. Enough said about the donuts!
In addition to great food; fried Swiss cheese, fry pies, french fries, Trail bologna and Swiss cheese sandwiches, barbeque chicken, and more, there’s plenty more at the festival. The steintossen (German for stone throwing) is a well attended event with both men and women’s divisions. The men’s stone weighs in at 138 pounds. It’s not just the weight of the stone that makes it hard to pick up, but also the bulkiness of it. Anyone having hopes of winning must be able to hoist it over their head with both hands fully extended. I couldn’t believe it when they announced that one guy from Sugarcreek has thrown the stone for 39 years. He won seven of those years. There’s also a kids tractor pull event, plenty of great music including a lot of lively polka bands (great for dancing with), great carnival rides for the kids, Swiss cheese makers competition, and more. It’s an event worth attending every year!