07/27/2025
OX ROAST 2025 IS IN THE BOOKS!
Starting off, it was an incredibly hot week of hard work! It began Monday with a major cleaning and preparation of both our buildings and downtown.
Wednesday morning, we prepared over 700 lbs of Potatoes and our homemade dressing, with Plymouth Shiloh FFA who helped us make it, without their help we couldn’t have done it!
Wednesday afternoon we setup 7 tents and a stage for the festival. We cleaned the pavilion and set up the building downtown for serving. Our members and volunteers worked until 830 pm then went home to prepare themselves for an inevitability hot day Thursday for the pit.
Thursday morning,at 430am, about 25-30 of us showed up at the corner of Lattimer Road and State Route 603 (our long standing location of our pit)to start the fire that we would burn continuously all day loads of wood that we split and season throughout the year. Throughout the day many people came and helped and watched the massive production of what it takes to make sure we have a pit hot enough and full enough of coals to cook 10,000 lbs of beef.
Thursday afternoon around 3pm, we began trimming, seasoning, and wrapping meat at our fire station. This process took around 50-60 people to make that happen. It was exceptionally hot inside the station which took its toll on members and volunteers keeping them cool and hydrated. After about 3 and half hours, 4 pickup trucks were loaded and ready to transport the meat to the pit. After and extensive cleanup, everyone made their way to the “pit”
Thursday evening, around 7 pm, the pit was raked even and sand spread evenly across the coals to form a blanket so the meat wrapped would not be in direct contact with the now over 3 feet of coals. Yet another massive undertaking moving that meat into the ground and then pipes and sheet metal placed and buried with dirt, creating a giant 105 feet long oven. Most people stick around and visit with friends and family, but with the extreme heat of the day, most of us went home for showers and relaxation, knowing 7am Friday was coming fast and it would then be GO TIME!
Friday rolls around, at 7am the first load of meat was removed from the pit and the process began to take shape quickly. 12-15 men sliced and shredded the meat while the kitchen crew prepared the meat for serving. We quickly became very busy with lines of people at both our station for bulk sales and downtown lunch crowd busy as ever. We had a small storm roll in, and one lightning strike knocked out our power for about 30 minutes. With a special thanks to our village workers, the problem was located and corrected. We continued to remain busy throughout the day and evening. Our evening ended with fireworks and some live music. At this time we had only one large load of meat left in the pit for Saturday. We survived day one!
Saturday rolled around, which is typically a slow start. As the morning turned afternoon, people once again came and bought bulk beef and visited the festival downtown. We literally sold out of everything, including the last beef sandwich, around 2 pm in the afternoon. A massive cleaning then took place and most of the equipment and supplies were cleaned and placed back above the mezzanine for next years festival. As the afternoon progressed, an increasing threat of storms was on our horizon. With the parade being at 7pm and closely watching the radar, we stepped off the parade slightly earlier. As the end of the parade came near, steady rain showers and some lightning nearby is how we ended things, but most of our supporters stayed until the end! We ended the evening with some food from our vendors and live music behind the legion.
All in all, it was a successful OX roast!!!
We raised money that directly supports not only the fire departments association, but many other local organizations that help us every year. The association uses these funds to offset the costs of the fire district by making purchases such as fire gear, equipment, and large monetary contributions towards apparatus.
In closing, we hope everyone understands how much of an impact this festival has on our local community, and how many people and hours it takes to pull this event off every year. We are grateful and humbled for your support and hope to see you all again next year for the 60th anniversary of the Shiloh Firemen’s OX Roast!!!!!!!
Share you photos from this years event and we will post them here!
