From Christmas cookies, slow-cooked sausages and springtime salads to the good works of Jesus Christ, Zion Lutheran Church of Bensenville knows how to feed the soul.
This Sunday, April 6, the Zion’s Men’s Club is at it again with their annual Sauerkraut Dinner, an old-world German feast of all-you-can-eat pork shank, Thuringer sausage, bratwurst, apple sauce, boiled potatoes, green beans and, of course, sauerkraut.
“Lutheran churches are known to have potlucks,” Pastor Steve Heuser said. “We have a strong German heritage, and our church has been around since 1838, so people would travel quite a distance to come here. They would pack favorite foods to eat after services, and I’m sure they shared with one another, so I think that’s how this dinner all began.”
Dinner will be served family-style inside the church’s gym, 865 S. Church Road, starting at 3 p.m. and continuing until 6 p.m.
Admission is just $15 for adults and $5 for kids 6 to 12 years old; younger than 5 years old are free. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the church or at the door. While seating is first come, first served, large groups are encouraged to buy tickets early so the church can plan for crowd surges.
“Sometimes, it gets nuts in here,” Heuser said. “We have a medium-size gym that holds 240 people, so often there’s a waiting line. We have to use the next-door parking lot. Sometimes it’s chaos, but everyone here is experienced, and we get through it.”
Over 600 hungry souls eat their way through it.
“We’ve only got 450 members,” Heuser said. “Relatives, friends, neighbors, extended family, they all come, and all are welcome. We even have a group of guys who come from Wisconsin. One of them was a member, and when the weather is nice, 15 to 20 of them hop on their motorcycles and come on down to enjoy this delicious dinner.”
Proceeds from the Sauerkraut Dinner benefit projects the Men’s Club does for the church’s school, Concordia. In previous years, they’ve contributed to purchasing a new school bus, and this year, they hope to help get new basketball backboards and a scoreboard.
The kitchen is manned by a WWI Naval cook who takes great pride in preparing this traditional German fare. Along with over 40 volunteers, they prepare more than 1,000 pounds of high-quality meats, including more than 1,000 pork hocks (top part of a pig’s leg) and 625 brats.
“Number one is the uniqueness of the food we have,” Heuser said. “We have special butchers in Chicago who we get our meat from, and then we are very meticulous in our preparation. From the piping-hot main dishes that have been slow-cooked to having real cream in our coffee and real butter on our fresh rye bread, everything served is just top-notch.”
Desserts and bread will be provided by Bensenville’s own Andresen’s Bakery, who is a church member. To fully complete this German spread, traditional German oomph music will be piped into the gym.
In addition to this dinner, the Men’s Club hosts a family picnic in June, a late-summer golf outing and a fall festival, along with helping with other church events, like the Zion’s Ladies Aid Christmas Cookie Exchange and their salad luncheon.
For more information about or tickets for Sunday’s Zion Men’s Club Sauerkraut Dinner, call the church, (630) 766-1039.
“It’s amazing how many people I see just once a year,” Heuser said. “They tell me they are from this or that church, and they come here just for this dinner. The dinner has such a great reputation that it sells itself. Some people say they don’t eat sauerkraut, but I tell them that’s just the name of the dinner. We have so many choices, and a lot of times, something they didn’t think they’d like, they end up loving.”
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