ORIENTAL FOOD BAZAAR Back to FUMC

The first Oriental Food Bazaar was held in1954 at the Methodist Church on the corner of Brace and Barton Roads in Loomis. As the attendance grew the event was moved to the Loomis Memorial Hall and then to Del Oro High School where it currently is held each year on the first Saturday of March. It remains the largest fundraiser for the church each year.

The event, which is held for only one day, takes much more than a day of planning and preparation! The General Chairs meet for several weeks before the bazaar to be sure that all the Committee Chairs, of which there are over 40, understand their tasks and have turned in requests for supplies and transportation of items.

There are many tasks to be done ahead of the bazaar. There are tickets to order, publicity for the event, signs to put up, programs, decorations to make, rental items to reserve, as well as food and products to order. Speaking of food, in 2009 the following amounts of food were cooked: 2220 lbs of chicken, 440 pounds of beef, 270 lbs of rice, 315 lbs of noodles, and 60 doz. eggs.

The week before the Bazaar, the church starts to buzz with activity. It takes many hands to wash rice, boil rice, boil noodles, fry noodles, cut vegetables, make brine and on it goes.

Friday night everything must be prepared at Del Oro for the BIG Day. Signs have be put up, boxes made for Take Out, Dinner Line set up, and Decorations put in place. It takes many trips back and forth to the church by the Transportation Committee, who need big trucks and strong backs.

Activities start before dawn for the Chicken Teriyaki BBQ. Grills have to be transported and set up, marinade made and charcoal started long before the first bite of chicken is served.

The cooked Chicken must be cut for Dinner Line or bagged for Take Out and stored in the ovens.

Kushiyaki beef which was skewered the night before must be grilled.

All of the ingredients for Chow Mein are mixed in a large container before it is taken to the Dinner Line for serving or to Take Out Line for boxing.

At 11 o’clock hungry people stream through the doors, go through the Dinner Line and the room starts filling up.

Youth help by serving Tea and handing out Programs.

Teriyaki Chicken, Kushiyaki Beef, Chow Mein, Inari Sushi, Barasushi, soda pop, water and fortune cookies are all available in the Dinner Line.

Take Out is very popular, and people walk out with armloads of food for those anxiously waiting at home.

Desserts are always a hit whether to eat in or take out!

In recent years Soju (Sumie Ward) and her students have demonstrated the time honored Japanese Tea Ceremony. Sumie is a highly trained teacher of the art and she invites all to a Chakai (tea meeting) where she discusses the four principles of the ceremony: harmony, respect, purity and tranquility.

And when it’s all over the Clean Up Crew comes in to mop up and the Transportation Crew takes everything back to the church. There are a lot of tired folks at the end of this day!

For more about the origin of the church, see church history