TEBBETTS, Mo. - Tebbetts is a tiny, close-knit community, and little brings its residents closer than a good meal and some live music at the annual Tebbetts Picnic.
The Tebbetts Picnic wraps up today with a worship service at 10:30 a.m., the food stand opening at 11 a.m., and gospel music performed by a local family starting at noon. The last chance to pick up the famous mutton sandwiches and homemade pies is 1:30 p.m.
"My favorite part is the food," Vicki Languell said.
She was working in the kitchen Friday, slicing pies and mixing coleslaw. It was far from her first time helping out.
"(My husband) Larry and I have worked the picnic since before we were even married, and we've been married 55 years," Languell said.
The picnic serves as a chance to reconnect with family and friends, some of whom come in from far away.
"I know there's some people here from Texas who came in to visit family," organizer Sam Richards said.
He's been in Tebbetts for about as long as the picnic has been going on, which, locals confirm, is a long time.
"They had this picnic at the schoolhouse for a couple of years, then they built this structure in 1951," said Larry Languell, a member of the local historical society.
However, Richards said, the picnic's organizers are always trying to think of ways to improve the event.
"Next year, we're going to do antique tractors," Richards said. "I don't know why we didn't think of that earlier."
He and others in the town have also been working to invite folks from nearby subdivisions to join the picnic - and the community.
Proceeds from the picnic help preserve the community, as well. They pay for upkeep of the Tebbetts Community Center. However, perhaps more importantly, the picnic helps preserve and pass on local traditions and history.
For example, the Polly Burre Memorial Old Time Fiddler Contest is named in honor of a well-known local. According to Larry Languell, Burre used to live near the picnic site. He's been immortalized through the contest - and also through Languell's model steamboats.
"I was laying in bed one night - that's how I do it, I imagine this stuff - and I thought, by golly, old Polly Burre, I should put him on a barrel," Languell explained.
Sure enough, a tiny model of Burre with hand-whittled fiddle in hand is perched atop Languell's model of the riverboat Arabia.
He and the other members of the historical society, who meet up on the second Monday of each month, also contribute to remembering the town's history.
Historical society member Barbara Phillips, a former mail carrier for the area, remembers the days when it had several stores, a blacksmith shop, a bank and even an ice cream parlor. However, even as businesses have faded away, and people have come and gone, the Tebbetts picnic has remained a constant.
Judging by the kids getting underfoot and occasionally pitching in to help, it should still be around for years to come.