Fine Dining in Danville

Only One Reason to go to Danville

Admittedly, it does not take much of a reason for me to drive off to the boonies for a blog mission. So, it should come as no big surprise to my readers that one Monday night in February, I found myself in Danville, Ohio. Usually, there is not much going on in Danville. Their best claim for tourism is that “Danville is the gateway to Amish Country.” In other words, you pass through Danville before going to somewhere that is actually interesting. So, what’s a town to do? I will tell you what they do. They invent an annual event. Then, you feed the town well and have a good time. Fine Dining in Danville happens once per year. I give you the 80th Annual Danville Lions Club Raccoon Dinner.

80 Years and Counting

That’s right. Surprisingly, the folks of Danville have been hosting the annual raccoon dinner for 80 years. Initially, the dinner was only the men of the Lions Club. The club gathered annually, prepared a raccoon and dared each other to eat it. It’s likely that alcohol was involved. Naturally, the rest of the town got wind of this event and wanted to join in. Consequently, the annual dinner became one of the biggest town events. It fills the dining hall in the local Catholic church. Trust me, it’s a big deal.

As you can see from the pictures above, everyone in Danville and the surrounding area was at the St. Luke’s Community Center…hungry for some raccoon. Also, I would be remiss if I did not give special credit to my wife, Carol. I have pushed her level of comfort in several past blog missions. But, this event took the cake. People from well-to-do suburbs of Boston do not typically consume raccoon…or even know that it’s done. For the record, she was easily the prettiest and best dressed attendee to the raccoon dinner. Well done Carol.

Let’s Cut to the Chase

No point in drawing this out any further. So, I give you my $13 Raccoon Dinner from the Danville Lion’s Club…

I really wanted to report about how good this meal was, but I can not. That raccoon was wrong. I think the first step of the preparation process was to throw the skinned carcass into a wood chipper. Then, the pulverized mush is boiled thoroughly until all the dangerous things are killed. Then, you serve this glob of meat and bone fragments. Most of you know that I can eat and drink about anything. I ate all my raccoon, but it took all of my will power to do it. Carol did a token taste, and left the rest on the plate…I did not finish her portion. To be fair, the stuffing, green beans, cole slaw and corn bread were good. But, I am very sorry to say, the racoon was a disappointment to my expectations.

Afterwards, I did a bit of an internet search on preparing raccoon. As my redneck readers will confirm, raccoon can be done right (see picture above). But, when you have 1,000 or so people packing into the community center, time and shear number of meals prevent the proper slow roasted approach.

Wrap It Up

I have been too negative in this post. Please allow me to finish on the positive. The dinner raised money for charity. Carol and I talked to many pleasant folks at the dinner. Furthermore, the side dishes were good. Also, I got a nice $10 Raccoon Dinner t-shirt. Lastly, neither Carol nor I experienced any troubling gastrointestinal issues during the subsequent digestive process. Plenty of things to be positive about…just not the raccoon. Please help raise Carol’s view on raccoon. If you have eaten and enjoyed raccoon, tell us about the experience in the COMMENTS section below. Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed “Fine Dining in Danville” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

Here was a more successful Fine Dining experience https://travelingwithpt.com/ode-to-the-hot-dog/

If you really want to do it, here is the Lion’s Club information https://www.facebook.com/RaccoonDinner/