Meet the Volunteer A-List!

Wethersfield Schools Community Volunteer Day!

It all started in 2014 when Coach Tonya Vincent and the WHS Volleyball Team signed up to volunteer under the big tent. They took a 5 hour block of time and not only helped to keep the world's largest outdoor pork barbecue going on Saturday of that year but had fun doing it! Their goal was to make sure EVERYONE in their vicinity could genuinely enjoy the last holiday weekend of summer. They worked not only at making sandwiches but also at just getting people to smile and have a good time.

In 2018, WHS decided it was time (to modify an expression) to pork or cut bait! By the time hog days rolled around, they had the volleyball team, the FFA, the Student Council, students, staff, parents and retirees all lined up to just volunteer to help out wherever needed under the big tent and at the grills, not just for a few hours but throughout the entire day! That is a HUGE contribution of volunteer time!

For several years now, we've been saying that hog days is owned by the community and if the community wants the 70 year old event to continue...all it need do is take ownership of it. Wethersfield Schools (and the people and organizations that follow below) have shown all of us that that is what they have done and we hope will continue to do for another 70 years or so!

The Grill People!

We could never rank any of the many jobs that need to get done each year as Hog Days happen. Every single job, no matter how big or small, is vitally important. BUT, if there is a job we do fret and worry about each year, it would be the volunteers who man the grills. It is typically the hottest, dirtiest, hardest duty of them all and the one that the most people are counting on...because everyone at some point during festival usually wants a pork chop or patty sandwich.

We are blessed with some truly amazing people who take on this task. There are individuals like Larry Neels, Rick Matuszyk, Joe Cervantez, Andy Fowler, Mark Ebert and farmer friends of his. Then there are organizations like the Masons, the Kewanee and Wethersfield FFA Chapters, The Key Club and friends just to name a few.

And there's one more organization. Kewanee VFW Post 8078. They have been cooking chops at Hog Days...how long again? Oh yeah: FOR. EVER. Every year. Always. Never asking to do anything that might be less hard. Blazing sun. Driving rain. As far as the VFW is concerned, Sunday morning/early afternoon of Hog Days weekend is their time and there WILL be plenty of chops and patties. Period. You can move on now! Talk about hanging with the cool people! It's a privilege we get to experience at Hog Days that we hope continues for a long time to come.

Thank you VFW and anyone who has EVER lifted a spatula or a grate of chops at the pits. YOU DO, 100 PERCENT of the time, make Hog Days happen!

Anne Murchison

What were you doing in 1965?  Because wherever you were, Anne Murchison was already busy volunteering to get this Hog Days thing going for another year. Anne has been watching over our community's Labor Day weekend celebration for over FIFTY years. Continuously. Never missed a year and most of the time has never missed a meeting!

Along with husband George (who sadly left us in 2001), the Murchison name is synonymous with Hog Days. You pretty much can't say one without the other.

Anne has held every admin post in our organization, not once, but several times over the decades. And has never received any financial remuneration. She does it as a way of giving back to her community and also for the fun of it.

The evening the picture to the left was taken (November 10, 2015) at which Anne was honored, we asked her if she ever thought there would be a time she would not be doing Hog Days. Her response was she didn't know but she was willing to try one more stint of 50 years just for the heck of it! Somehow, with Anne, that seems totally doable.

For all you hard core volunteers out there.  Here's your watershed mark to work toward. Anne Murchison and volunteerism.  Thank you Anne!

Mary Ashpole

Then there's Ms. Mary! Mary Ashpole was urged on to Hog Days by her friend Anne Murchison.  She started hanging around the edges of Hog Days (for about 2 and a half minutes!) and in very short order became actively involved.  40 years came and went and Mary stayed a part of the Hog Days organization. With great sadness from all of us, Mary passed away in March of 2016.

Those of us who worked with Mary considered her the one who could part the seas of conflicting thoughts to reach the shore of common sense.  After a 20 minute conversation on just about anything, Mary would sit and listen intently and then point out to everyone the obvious way to go.  And, doggone it, she was always right!

We admired her grit and determination and will sorely miss her although we have the feeling that whatever festivals are going on in heaven...Mary is there getting it all organized and running smoothly! Her level of volunteerism is one that will always be impossible to beat! Thank you Mary!

Kewanee Ministerial Association

In a spirit of good will, the Kewanee Ministerial Association decided in 2015 to treat the carnival workers and the Hog Festival Committee to lunch.  Why? Why not was their answer. "The lunch was our way of saying thank you to all those workers and volunteers for their tireless efforts to provide a fun and meaningful community celebration," said Rev. Joe Schmidt of the Ministerial Association.

The ministerial organization volunteered to come out and provide food and drink just because it seemed to them like the right thing to do. They gave of themselves and truly did do "the Lord's work" that day. And continue to do so again this year.

Thank you KMA!

Kewanee High School Key Club Members

There are many individuals and organizations that absolutely are part of the "ground zero" of making Hog Days happen year after year. We're referring to everyone who helps cook the pork chops and pork burgers at the grills or who helps bag and sell those sandwiches under the big tent.  Over 30 thousand sandwiches in about 30 hours over the course of Hog Days weekend. Now THAT'S no easy job! If you're from any of the many organizations that has volunteered for cooking or tent duty, we promise you will be singled out on this page eventually.

So to get things started, let's give a tip of the hat to the Key Club and advisor Amron Buchanan. In recent years, between Key Club and their parent organization Kiwanis Club, several groups of volunteers have stepped forward to either work the grills or work under the big tent. Your volunteer service makes for a fun weekend and helps put a smile on everyone's faces. What a great gift. Thank you!