Here’s a slice of small-town America… served next to a heaping plate of an unusual meat. Sky Full of Bacon takes you to the 82nd Annual Coon Feed at the American Legion post in Delafield, Wisconsin.

Sky Full of Bacon 09: Raccoon Stories from Michael Gebert on Vimeo.

Since the 1920s, the American Legion Post in Delafield, Wisconsin has hosted a raccoon dinner to support its youth sports programs. Even as the World War II vets who run it get older and the town itself becomes a suburb of Milwaukee, the spirit of the old Delafield— a place where you hunted for your supper, the town barber was the center of all the activity, and Al Capone was an occasional visitor— lives on in the stories of the folks preparing the 82nd Annual Coon Feed… and in the hearty welcome they give old friends and strangers (with video cameras) alike. Plus a special guest appearance by a celebrity chef, who tells us his own story about cooking Delafield coon. It’s 18 and a half minutes of a midwest that’s fast disappearing, but still knows how to have a good time on a Saturday night.

Here’s the site for the American Legion post in Delafield—so you can watch for next year’s coon feed and make your travel plans.

Here and here are Cathy Lambrecht’s posts about past Coon Feeds at LTHForum, and this links to stories of the celebrity chef referenced above (I’d watch the video first, though). Monica Eng at the Chi-Trib also brought raccoon into the same place here.

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About Sky Full of Bacon
Sky Full of Bacon #8: Pear-Shaped World
Sky Full of Bacon #7: Eat This City
Sky Full of Bacon #6: There Will Be Pork (pt. 2)
Sky Full of Bacon #5: There Will Be Pork (pt. 1)
Sky Full of Bacon #4: A Head’s Tale
Sky Full of Bacon #3: The Last Brisket Show
Sky Full of Bacon #2: Duck School
Sky Full of Bacon #1: How Local Can You Go?

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