From the WNIN Tri-State Public Media Center in downtown Evansville.

I'm David James, and this is Two Main Street.

Well, I can't think of any other event around here with such a sensory overload.

The comforting aroma of fried food, the clamor of the crowd flashing carnival lights, squeals from the thrill rides and just the excitement of being there along West Franklin Street.

The Nut Club Fall Festival is celebrating a century of fun and philanthropy in a new book, From Acorns to Oaks.

And here to share the history of the festival and its impact on the community are Mary Ellen Ziliak, the author of From Acorns to Oaks and West Side Nut Club President Ed Dietz.

So, guys, welcome to Two Main Street.

Thank you.

Good to have you.

This is going to be a lot of fun.

So of course, the very first fall festival.

what was that like, guys?

It was in 1921.

Yes.

It's correct.

I remember Halloween festival.

Yeah.

Weekend.

It was in 21.

That was the official first West Side Nut Club fall festival.

That's correct.

There were some teasers before back to 1914, but not under that umbrella because the Nut Club was an established until 21.

So, yes, it was, very different than today.

How would you describe it?

Very much so.

It was definitely Halloween based.

And as, as, Mary Ellen stated, you know, initially back in 14, the West Side business Association had there had a few days around that.

They did it.

But in 1921 was when the club was established.

we got what we still know today is the West Side nightclub Fall Festival.

And yeah, it's definitely evolved, but it was, it was a great start back then, and it just continues to grow as it always been, like the first week in October.

Not always initially.

Initially, it was just a day, a day festival.

And then they added a couple days here and there, and then it grew to the first full week in October, and we've kept it that way.

And as far as far as I know, we have no sense in ever changing that.

We're going to we're gonna leave that tradition as it is.

And at first it was more like a Halloween party.

Correct?

It was kind of fashioned after Halloween and Mardi Gras.

So there were times it was just a one night festival, a three night festival, but it was more of a street festive thing.

And people had masks.

Oh, yeah.

Costumes on it?

Yeah.

When you look back at some of those, it's it's kind of creepy with some of the old, costumes and things.

It's very different than what we're used to today.

It's, it's very it's very neat.

Why?

I read somewhere where they had contests for the ugliest man and the ugliest woman.

That's very.

Oh, yes.

Not politically correct.

Hey, times have changed a little bit.

We're getting better, so it's all good.

We also had one come across that, what many years ago?

That was, the biggest belly contest.

Yeah.

So just the men participated, and I thought that was an interesting title.

It was a beer bellies down there.

My gosh, you okay?

That was okay.

So the the festival is over with, and then you're already planning for the next one?

I mean, it's a year round thing in it.

Yeah.

matter of fact, we were just at lunch with a group, of scholarship recipients from the West Side Nut Club just yesterday, and one of them asked if we had started.

Yeah, planning.

And I said, yeah, about two months ago.

So, you know, we ran it full bore right now.

So it's good.

Okay.

And of course, the crowds have grown substantially over the years.

those early crowds I'm sure, weren't one couple thousand maybe.

Well, at one point they estimated at 25.

That's fairly good.

Yeah.

So it started off pretty big I'm sure has grown now what what's now?

Yeah.

We're in excess of 200,000 there.

That's just amazing.

And of course, the philanthropy of the West Side Nut Club that's mentioned a lot in your book, and it should be mentioned because it's it's enormous.

And of course, I think a game changer was the half pot.

No question, no question.

It's made a, drastic difference in our outreach, our footprint and what we're able to reach out to organizations on.

So we're, we're very excited for it.

We're very proud of it.

And, and it's it's made a wonderful, wonderful area for us to, to increase our donations.

Well, how did that start?

So actually, one of our members had, had seen it, at, he was actually at a Cardinals baseball game and they were doing their half pot there.

And he's like, man, I think this could work for the club and come back and talked.

And from the time we started talking till the time it was actually implemented, was probably a year and a half and some change before we ever pushed to go.

But, once we did, no one in including our team that was kind of building that had any idea of what to expect.

We were all over the board.

Hey, is this thing could we could we make 50 grand?

Could it make 100 grand?

And we just had no idea.

And as it kept growing, we were kind of looking at each other, going, man, we're we're in trouble here.

We got a lot to manage.

And, and so but it really worked out well, that first year really some crazy stories in how we had to adapt and, and, move on on the fly.

You know, we were literally building a new box to hold tickets the night before the drawing because, the gaming commission come and said, hey, there's not enough air space in here.

These have to be able to mix properly.

So it was all hands on deck and guys got together and literally built a box because the outpouring was so big.

And we just, we had to have a place to put all those things.

So, guys were still, handling tickets.

They worked all through the night and at like five in the morning, we're just kind of wrapping up so literally all around the clock to make it work.

But it worked out great.

And it's, continue to improve.

And I love that.

The first box that had to be that it outgrew the tickets, outgrew that first one.

It was the size of a refrigerator.

Yeah.

Yet it wasn't big enough.

So I know I had the privilege of interviewing Heath Rupp, who brought the idea to the nightclub before he was even a member.

Okay.

And his story said, well, I kind of I've been working on this 4 or 5 years before it happened.

Yeah, but to have to build a new ticket container halfway through.

But they were changing the rolls on the tickets every 7 to 8 minutes.

Right?

Because there were so many being bought.

Well, I know the long lines.

Yeah.

Just to buy these tickets.

Well, dealing with you, dealing with cash.

We were dealing with cash.

Yeah.

So, so, you know, obviously security was an issue as well.

So we were taking care of all that.

And there, there was, it was definitely overwhelming.

And we greatly undervalued what the community was going to do as far as supporting this cause.

So it was just it was wonderful.

We've grown.

that's a lot of the reason that we went to a digital drawing and electronic drawing, to do away with not only the paper waste, but just the sheer weight.

When we got all those in a drone, we were like, okay, we got it.

Now, how do we move it?

So it, you know, it was it was literally shift on the fly.

But it worked out really well.

And, we had a plenty of help.

And our members are fantastic about jumping in whatever's needed at any time.

And it worked out great.

Well, I got a list of some of the, the donation from the West Side Luck Club from 2009 to 2023. number one rank Evansville Vanderburgh County Schools, $1.5 million.

That's amazing.

we got the University of Southern Indiana, $264,000.

What's the EV?

That's the diocese.

That's correct.

That's the diocese.

Schools, 1.2 million.

Correct.

your foundation, 170,000 other schools, 151,000.

Boys and Girls Club, 120,000 youth first Evansville Fire Department, police department.

Casa goes, goes on and on and on.

It's incredible amounts and and really congratulations to the West Side Club.

That's that is amazing and made a great impact on this community and still doing it now.

Mary.

why did you want to write this book?

well, it intrigued me.

The whole idea.

And I knew there was, things being put together for the book before I was approached to write it.

And, when I looked at, I thought, oh, this is a sweet story.

And I was biased because I had a brother, Harvey Klink, who was a nightclub member, and my godfather, Uncle Kenny Rice, was a member.

They taught me growing up what it meant to be a nut.

Clever.

I mean, they were so, dedicated to the organization, to helping other people.

So to me, telling the story was a sweet job to take on.

I am a big believer in, divine intervention type of thing.

I have to think about it, pray about it before I take on a job.

So I had the contract in hand, sitting on the front porch saying, this is what I was supposed to do.

And I thought, okay, if I'm supposed to do it, make it clear, because I had other projects going on at the time, I'd have to put on hold.

But when I was thinking that looking at the contract, I had a racket on the roof because we have a tin roof, metal, 200 year old acorn trees on the side of it, and bing, bing, bing ricochets.

I had five acorns bounce off the roof and land at my feet.

Dumb.

I thought, okay, this has to happen.

So I called umpteen publishing.

I said, count me in, I'm excited and I wanted to share what I knew was the rich history and the heart of being a nut club member.

I love that story.

So, what's been the response to the book?

it's been fabulous.

I had the privilege of interviewing quite a few families.

One family had four generations involved in the Nut Club, where it started with the grandfather in the early 20s had painted a sign saying the Nut Club.

It wasn't produced by machine.

It was hand-painted.

But they had four generations of people being involved in the nightclub, and it extends so much beyond the club.

So the response has been good because this community owns the Nut Club Fall Festival.

I mean, they are dedicated to it.

They show up, they they celebrate life and the support is so wonderful.

So the feedback's been good.

There has been interesting comments, even from members, that we're not aware of some of the interesting stories and facts from 100 years ago.

So that's been extra special.

But you got a lot of material to go through.

Oh, I had 16,000 pictures to start out with, to start with, to start with, I was able to whittle that down and hang on to 500.

So I still have 500 pictures in there.

But it was a process which my publisher was a big help with that because, okay, first, was it quality?

Was it a duplicate?

Did it fit the story?

But I went from 16,000 to 500.

So I feel what we captured in the book is accurate and and they're nice little golden nuggets.

It's I didn't want something big flash.

I wanted the real meat and potatoes of the fall Festival and of the club.

I wanted someone that doesn't like to read, to be able to page through 500 pictures and know the story, and I feel like we've accomplished that with a lot of help.

And, you know, by reading this book, truth is also the history of the city.

Oh, it is it's it's it's amazing, as I found out, going through a plethora of history and notes that if the mayor needed something on the west side of Evansville, it was not unusual for him to call the Nut Club President a wonderful example of that was when the campus for what was then known as ISUE, he called up the Nut Club, said, hey, can you find me some ground for our campus?

We need a college on the west side.

they got our done.

That's our motto.

Get her done.

Well.

And so, the history is, is closely woven in with all of Evansville, not just the west side.

We're talking to Mary Ellen, Mary Ellen Ziliak author of From Acorns to Oaks and Ed Dietz with the West Side Nut Club.

And, okay, one year, 2020 Covid 19.

Ouch.

Yeah, yeah, it was a, that was definitely a, a year to, try to forget that we never will.

So it, it was definitely a lot of challenges.

And, we were able to overcome that to some degree, but, yeah, we had to cancel the festival that year because of the pandemic.

That the only time it's been canceled?

No.

Is canceled a couple of years there.

during the war.

Yeah.

World War two.

if I, if you ask me because I went through the history with that and there were five years that a fall festival fest of all was not held from 21 until now.

That's right.

the first year was 1921.

That was first year in the Nut Club and the first Fall Festival, the next year, 22.

It did not happen.

And some of that was the first year they were brand new.

Club didn't have any money.

They had to assess each club member ten bucks to put it on.

That's right.

Okay.

So that one was not.

And then like you said during the war, 1943, 44 and 45 and then Covid, as you mentioned.

So there were five.

So actually the number 100 fall festival is yet to come.

Okay.

There we go.

Now, and now the very next year, 2021, the festival is back, but there are fewer food booths.

Is that right?

Yeah.

We had, we had some issues with food booths that, that that still had pandemic concerns.

And a lot of them, and still to this day, have volunteer issues.

They're they're having a hard time getting people to come out and help support and work those shifts and things like that.

So, yeah, we did have some, some booths that said, hey, we we kind of want to do this.

We don't have a place.

Can we retain our spot?

What do we do?

So we had a lot to work through and kind of reorganize.

But it it continues to bounce back and we're back to having a surplus of vendors and, and different groups that like to be there.

But yes, we did fight that the following year.

But, you know, it worked out really well.

We were able to give them some additional space where a booth normally would have been that wasn't.

So we were able to expand that, make a little more room to walk around without ever really losing the integrity of how that is set up, because it's it's you.

You have as you well know, it's down to the inch or the foot in a lot of cases, to make sure we got room for everyone.

So we didn't want to we didn't want to break that up and create havoc later on.

But it worked really well.

But yes, it was that was definitely a sticking point for the following year.

We didn't know what to expect.

You know, we were fighting it like everybody else.

So of course, this is an outdoor event.

the weather plays a huge role in in the fall festival.

the turnout, not too many washouts.

Very few.

there was a we had it we had a year that, it rained just about every day all week long up until Friday.

We had a great Friday and Saturday.

And actually, in the end, it really balanced out well.

But normally every year we have a day or a couple of days where we're going to fight some rain.

But as far as, anything severe enough to, you know, to really dampen the festival or alter what we have to do, knock on wood, it's a it's been so far so good.

So it's been great.

Now people watching always interesting at the fall festival, you have no idea what you're going to see down there.

That's true.

And now and it's as Mary, I know it's a popular place for reunions, probably wedding proposals.

oh, yes, that goes on down there, I totally agree.

And I know the second year into the Nut Club, the second Fall festival, which would have been 23, there was a couple and a model T four got married on the grounds of the West Side Library.

Okay.

So, I mean, I heard stories of, yes, that a lot of people know that it's a popular story because getting married at a model T was pretty cool.

But people have proposals down there.

first dates, there are fond memories associated with the Nut Club beyond what we will ever know.

I know high school reunions planted around the.

Yeah, and there are a lot of people come in from out of town, plan vacations around it.

I know I in, in the past, when I was working near Saint Joe Avenue.

yes.

People would fight over that week because they wanted to take a week of vacation during the fall festival.

It was that important.

So, yes, many rich stories.

And now all the businesses along West Franklin Street.

what's the accommodation with them during the fall festival?

So it it really is a business decision.

Some of them would like to close.

Some, remain open.

it's totally their decision.

we, we partner with a lot of them.

They, decorate storefronts and things just as much as they did years and years ago.

That used to be kind of a, a festival within a festival type type setup where the business sort of decorate.

But we've had several of them.

We, you know, one of the locations they display a king and queen pictures, and then someone else will display, the a caught the traveling Acorn trophy from the right, some holiday game.

So they're they're involved at various different levels.

obviously some of the, the restaurants and things like that.

They do.

Well because they're getting additional traffic.

they'll put on different events.

So they're, they're very, very great partners and we appreciate them very much.

we know that we're intruding on that area.

So we, you know, we go in and we have to move railings or flower boxes and things like that to kind of make room.

But they are so on board with what we do and what this community does and supports that.

We just we could not ask for better partners and they truly are partners.

Okay, this festival happens in October.

And gee, that's right before Election Day.

no.

Politicians and their supporters are out in force at the Fall festival.

All those potential voters out there and all of the parties have booths, don't they?

Like a lot of them do.

Yes, I know, I know, most of them have some type of food booth down there or they'll have affiliates working those.

But yes, that's, that's a that's a popular area for me now, I, I, I did some research and of course, in your book, Mary, the first annual banquet of the West Side Nut Club in 1921 was at the West Side Library.

Roast chicken with dressing, oyster cocktail cigars and something called the Nut Club slaw.

Oh, my.

What is the nut club slaw?

Okay, I don't have an answer for that.

I'm deferring.

Go ahead.

And you don't know?

No.

So?

So back then, I really don't know exactly what they called it back then.

We have, a couple of meetings and things where, the, the entities that we work with basically make it's almost like a tomato slaw.

so it's very, kind of and, and, I don't know, it's it's not really a salsa, but it's very sweet and it's a, it's a side dish.

And a lot of people still refer to that as our nightclub slaw.

So.

Yeah.

Tell me about Hornie's Tavern.

Oh, shall I start?

Absolutely.

No, no, that's that's okay.

Well, I need to backtrack.

When I said there were some teasers before the 1921. sure.

Fall Festival, 1914 was the, the first year that the West Side Business Association put on a fall festival, and that came about because there was a group of men would meet at Hornie's restaurant and have lunch.

They were all businessmen.

That was that was there.

It was kind of an early version of networking.

They got to Hoenie’s, they ate, then they'd hang around afterwards and they'd munch on nuts.

So people started calling them the nuts, but their name of their group was actually called the Epicureans.

Okay.

Yeah, flocked to that name.

So they decided if they were going to help with the community and get the word out that anything you want, you can get on the West Side that was kind of their theme.

You can get it on the West side.

So they wanted to know how to make that happen.

Well, the Fall Festival was one of the ideas, but then changing the name of the club was another, but these guys would gather at, Hornie’s and they call themselves the Epicures, but they would discuss business what was happening on the West side, and I don't have a list of all that gathered.

It was informal.

It wasn't an official club, but some of the early people with the Epicurus, Charles Wolfe Island, who was like the first president of the West Side Nut Club, Charles Howard and Wolfland had a lumber yard.

So these were businessmen.

There was a Charles Howard, he was a banker.

And then there was a doctor and singer.

He was a, dentist.

And then, W.E.

Stinson, who had like a general store, cash and carry type of thing.

But they said they wanted this to happen.

They were going to be changing their name, and they are the ones I understand that approached the West Side Business Association said, let's have a fall festival.

So it happened in 14, 18, 19.

It was 21 when the Nut Club was formed.

They were no longer called the Epicurus, which I think was a good call.

I had to look that up.

That is actually a word.

And I didn't know.

I don't know if you guys do.

Food enthusiasts.

Yes.

Someone who appreciates fine dining and fine wine.

Right.

And they felt like that didn't give the message, so they changed it to the Nut Club.

some of it coming from the guys at HornIe’s, eating nuts afterwards and talking now Hornie’s what's the location.

Is is there a still a tavern there or a building?

I'm sure of that.

And I'm not.

Not enough to to state it for sure I've heard.

But no plaque there, no memory, not there of people near the story.

But I didn't get the specifics.

Maybe someone will come forward now.

There you go.

This is where it's at.

The first ladies night was in 1924. a male only club.

The Nut Club, right.

we've only got male members.

Yes.

So right now.

But women play an important role.

No question do.

No question.

They do.

And, I found out the official car of the West Side Nut Club is a 1924 Model-T Ford.

That's correct.

it's it's still operational?

We do.

We actually have two.

We've got a car and a truck and, use those in our parades and different functions, and it works good.

And still to this day, as a membership, we still celebrate ladies night.

We have that, that's a, dance and a dinner for our members.

Very well attended.

That's kind of a night for the ladies to, to come out because they support us all year long.

So on board.

You're so instrumental in what we do.

They really are.

It's great.

And and being in that club member is very time consuming.

It's a, it's an, commitment.

And I think, the Nut Club does an excellent job relaying that, you know, we want people who will be vested, they will come to the meetings, they will help.

It's expected.

And I know I've talked to some members who said, you know, they were kind of on a wait list for a few years and had to had to show that they were committed and helping out even before they were members, because it's all hands on deck and very much so.

And it's and it's still like that to this day, as you're, as you're trying to get associated and decide that you want to become part of the club, sometimes it takes 2 or 3 years or more to get in that, you know, we we've got a set number of openings and, you know, you've got to kind of have a space for those and you might have a dozen, 20 guys maybe that are really trying to get in, and you might only have just a handful of spots.

So it, so they, they really do, but they keep coming back.

And those folks show that they're going to be great involved members.

And that typically is the case.

And that's exactly what we're looking for.

And, it's it's truly a brotherhood and a passion.

And our members take it very seriously.

So that's I'm very proud of that.

I like to say you guys work hard, play hard and then get her done.

Yeah.

That's right.

Okay.

Well I saw well I'm jumping around here a lot because there's so much to talk about, you know, 100 years, you know, in 50 minutes.

So the pronto pup, I understand how general Baptist Church, and I found out the difference between a pronto pup and a corndog.

Good.

And the pup pancake batter.

Yeah.

Dog.

Cornmeal.

Bad.

Yes.

Big difference.

So, what's your favorite?

so for starters, that's.

Make no question.

That is the best food on the festival.

Let's just like to get that out there, especially pronto.

Pronto.

Pups is the best food out there okay.

Yes.

So, but yes, there's, there's a ton of great stuff.

But if you're going to ask myself for sure and a lot of nut covers, if we've got to go to that is one that you'll go to wherever your favorite booth is.

And that's something that so many guys will have at least 1 or 2 of every single year, like our first stops, sometimes your first and your last.

But, that's, that's definitely on the pancake batter.

Make it.

Oh, yes.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So which I'm curious, which one do you like?

Oh, absolutely.

Pronto.

Okay.

I'm a pronto person.

May I throw something in?

Certainly.

Pronto pups are so serious that I made, note that there is a church on the far west side on Saint Phillips Road called Saint Peter's United Methodist Church.

they have had a booth down here at the Nut Club Fall Festival since 68.

They really acknowledged that much of their improvements there at church happen because of funds they earned.

They raised at the Nut Club Fall Festival, having a booth.

They had money one year that they could re top their parking lot and their driveway.

The concrete big step.

They called it Pronto Pup Drive.

so September and October, you can drive to that side of town and see it.

Well, and I think Terry Gamblin from Howard will tell you that they have that is a, that is a building block for them and that has been there since beginning.

And, and, they do a phenomenal job.

And they, they are there a lot of times one of the very first two that our members will go to.

So they've been around for, if you guys remember your first time at the Fall festival.

Oh, wow.

I definitely do.

I couldn't tell you what year it is, but I remember as a kid going down and just being overwhelmed.

my my dad would be on a on a dead spot.

He was he was after a certain food or whatever it may be.

And we couldn't wait to get to the park to play games or maybe get to ride rides or whatever it was.

But, you know, all your buddies from school would be talking about, hey, are you going, are you going to be there?

And it just became the focus of the entire week.

A teacher had no chance.

I mean, because all we were talking about is and my wife's a teacher now, and I think it's still like that a little bit, but, but that it just consumed everything that we did for that week as a kid.

And, it's and now to be part of it is just a, just an awesome, awesome turn of events.

Very well.

I can't remember the date.

I, mine, is more limited because I grew up in Saint Wendel in Posey County, and it was a big thing to drive to the big city of Evansville.

Yeah, I grew up that once a month, I could beg mom to take me in to get groceries with her.

So it was limited.

But what I remember is I just was dumbstruck.

I'm sure I walked around with my mouth hanging open because I thought I'd gone to the big city, I really did.

I thought, oh, this is what New York City looks like, because I've never seen so many people gathered in one spot before.

So, I was duly impressed.

And as I got older and had wheels, then I could enjoy my my time on my own.

And earlier we talked about the limited number of nut clubbers.

what is the limit?

So in our bylaws, it's written we have a maximum number of active members at 300.

So, you know when to get to that?

somebody has to either elect to remove themselves from the club, somebody passes away.

Whatever the case may be.

and that creates spots.

But we also have an option for members, that meet certain criteria.

They have to be of a certain age or be in the club more than 30 years.

Then they can take what's called honorable life.

They still enjoy all the benefits and things, but they essentially don't pay any dues or anything.

But it opens up a spot to bring new members on.

And, that's how we create openings.

So our but our active membership is capped at 300.

Okay.

Now, the Westside Nut Club is known for the fall festival.

You have events year round.

Absolutely.

And I know, just a couple of them here you have the, the the Easter egg hunt, which has become a big deal.

You know, Easter egg hunt is a huge, huge piece.

you know, the we everybody wonders, you know, how fast all that goes together and the committee that runs that, and they obviously order the eggs and the candies and stuff ahead of times.

And if you go back a bunch of years, they literally boiled and dyed eggs, real eggs and placed them.

obviously that's changed.

And, so now we're doing plastic eggs, which is a huge blessing.

But, but literally we, we assemble those on the morning of the egg hunt, we'll do roughly 15,000 eggs, and our membership shows up and we stuff all those eggs, put them into designated bins, and then we go out to a that's held at day high school, and we separate the field by age groups, and then we have the right amount of eggs that it's not I'm not much of a hunt, but it's more of an egg gathering.

But but it's but then you go out into those certain fields, and so we start on that about seven in the morning, and we get to modern day about, I don't know, noon or 12:30 to kind of set up.

And, that thing's normally over with in about 60 seconds.

Oh, and it's time to pick up, get out of there.

So it, but it is a great a great tradition.

It's very well supported and attended.

you know, we do some other things.

We've got the, the Cruisin car show and, you know, we do we do a lot of different things through the year.

You know, a president has a spring project every year for our members to, to attend and give back in other ways.

But, a lot of different events and we're, we're very excited to always, always bring something to the community.

Now, Mary, you have researched the philanthropy of the West Side nightclub.

And what are some of the first such projects, the first properly funded?

Well, I think the first project was to make enough money to be able to give to philanthropy that they had, and they did a lot of sweat equity in their philanthropy.

Starting out, because I think a lot of people don't realize 1921, when the first Fall Festival happened, like I said earlier, it's $340.98, and every member had to pay ten bucks.

It took them more than 25 years, 1947, before they showed a profit.

So I think that is the first thing is to appreciate the fortitude and stick-to-it-iveness to say, hey, we're gonna eventually have some money to give away to people.

So they did that for over 25 years and were able to and I don't want to slight the spring project that Ed mentioned because that's a lot of money that they do because they were so supportive of Metzger Park Zoo.

I know there's been facelifts out there time and time again, but there's a lot of moneys get put into that besides the hundreds and thousands of hours of labor.

So that was early on.

We don't have numbers, but I like to say in 47, we actually made a profit.

And interestingly enough, the profit was 300 bucks something.

So it took that much to start out with to put it on and that's what their first profit was.

But they have grown over the ages.

I don't have today's number, but I do know that at the time this book went to press, they had surpassed $8 million that they gave away to the community in so many ways.

So uh, Golfmore Park?

Yes is a big project up in the West Side Nut Club.

and of course you said the University of Southern Indiana.

They put money so they not only found the lot, they put money towards buying that lot.

Well, to get the university started, the expressways.

When you're talking about Columbia Street Bridge, bridge, Franklin Bridge, the Lloyd Expressway, they had their fingers in that, you know, so there were moneys contributed towards it.

But there was a lot of sweat equity and, word of mouth, kind of building it up through the paper and interviews.

So there's just so many things beyond that 8 million that people think about.

Now, I know it's beyond that today, but it started out in slow in, small areas like schools, like you mentioned, community areas.

Yes.

The, the golf course.

But so much at Mesker Park was built up, even had a day of kids making posters about one animal that was their favorite at the zoo to promote that.

and then they brought, yeah, big names in and all that to pull.

But it was a long effort.

Let's talk about those celebrity sightings of the Fall Festival.

Yeah.

The special guests, that you've had over the years.

And, of course, some people might not remember these these guys.

but I remember Hopalong Cassidy.

Yeah.

Famous western star.

Or she was on, and movies and TV.

did he brings horse topper along?

He brought topper along?

Yes.

We have pictures.

And we captured one in the book about us getting off of the plane at, dress Regional Airport.

And we had people lined up on 41 waiting to see Hopalong get off the plane.

We had people that made up their, beautiful cars that are now collector items, but they had it up.

But they were hoppers.

They if they were a fan, they were a hopper.

So, I mean, they plated up a big Hopalong came in 1956, the year before.

Again, you have to be older to know who this is.

But Homer and Jethro was a comedy team.

They were big.

And then Minnie Pearl wrapped it up back in 57 after Hopalong.

Those are big names.

They were big names at that time.

Definitely.

Now some festival highlights in events.

The lighthouse parade that's involves the children and their creativity.

Right.

And yeah.

So, you know, back, a decades ago, before kids had tablets and all this stuff, a pretty common occurrence was for them to build lighthouses on their own, and they were on a wagon or some similar contraption.

And it and you think of a lighthouse like you see on the coast.

And that's really not what this was.

They would make a, a structure of a barn or something that mimic their own home or just, just some type of thing that they found cooler, interesting.

And they would rig it with lighting, which at that time was normally candles.

And, so fast forward to, you know, me to this and Mary Ellen may know, but I want to say it was 84, 85 that the that the lighthouse parade started, it became a tradition.

And, it was on Franklin Street.

It was always Monday of the fall festival.

And, we invite families and kids to build a lighthouse.

They don't register or anything.

They just show up.

So in the early, the early years of the lighthouse parade, it was not uncommon to see a 100 plus entrance to that.

so they would build, all kinds of different shapes and sizes and different contraptions.

And now you've got LED battery powered lights and all kinds of things that take place.

But it, so it's definitely become much safer as far as, no burning candles and things like that, but but it's, but it's worked out great.

And, we've, we've seen the participation really dwindle on that.

And I know there's a huge push from our team this year to really get that built back up.

we would like to see that back at, you know, at least 50 units or so that come through that.

But it's, you know, it's sold much like so many things with the fall festival, families really develop their own traditions.

whether it is going and meeting your family and getting a particular food item, whether it is watch an amateur hour or whether it is participating in lighthouse or going down for tug of war, there is just an endless supply of things that families have made a tradition of, and we're just so very proud and cognizant of that.

And we want to be sure we keep those things alive and keep it, keep it moving.

But yeah, the Lighthouse Parade has been around a long time and we hope it continues to thrive.

Family friendly festival.

Yeah.

No question.

Family first pet parade.

Always exciting to see you there, critters.

And, any, any exotic critters over the years, there's been all kinds of better.

There's been all kinds of stuff down there.

you know, even just since I've had exposure, we've seen them come down with, gosh, llamas and horses and dogs and cats and, poultry and snakes.

And I mean, if you if you can think about it, they've had it down there.

so and what is really cool is, yeah, you think, oh, I don't really want to see that particular kind of animal or that doesn't really fit to me how creative the families get with these things.

I mean, it is just crazy though.

It was no color them up and dress them up and and really it, it is really just a fun day.

So sometimes the kids get dressed.

Absolutely, mom.

It's a whole theme.

Little to to walk in the parade on their own.

Mom dresses.

Yeah, it's a whole theme for the fans right now.

Let's go to the adults and they like a parade as well.

The main parade and the floats.

Mary.

Oh goodness.

Some some pretty, pretty impressive, very elaborate floats.

And it's from universities.

It's from bands.

It's from high schools.

It's from organizations.

The hospitals.

Anything that gathers as a group can have a, have a, float in the parade.

And people do jump on immediately after the fall festival, they jump on, what are we going to do next year?

Oh, yeah.

Because the pressure is, to be even bigger and better, you know?

So, Oh, yeah, it's been well supported professionals and, big groups, nursing groups, like you said, with the hospital, but small intimate groups too, that are just, kind of neighborhood gatherings can still put.

And you have the regulars that would come the the hardy clowns.

Oh, yeah.

They were always a fixture in the parade.

Yeah.

I know I was in the channel 14 float and it took us about an hour and a half to even start moving because we were backed up.

We were like number 99.

Yeah.

Something in the, in the parade.

Oh I know.

So it was a huge event.

We're right after Macy's.

Yeah.

Yeah it is.

It's crazy.

And we've got that.

We've got a train delay in there somewhere.

So we're fighting that all the time.

But we're we're always working around those things.

But yes it is a wonderful it adds to the Army.

Yeah.

That's right there.

You know though the horn whistle okay.

You got the tug of war with the the high school kids.

Yep.

The the, the middle school middle school kids.

Okay.

Yep.

And so that's, that is a long standing tradition.

And, and they are, quick to tell you who won and what's going on.

And they're very proud of that.

And they take it very seriously.

And it's a very well attended event.

It works out.

It's just tremendous to come and see how hard they work.

And that started in the 70s.

That's correct.

And that takes place on Tuesdays in history.

Now the Queen and King contest has been around a long time.

Yep, yep.

and that is another one that, you know, the schools nominate them, they come and, we, you know, it's not just how they appear on stage.

They actually go through some questioning.

So just like a, there's a there's an interview process and that, that our, our group will, will handle that.

And then they're voted on accordingly.

And we've got an independent set of judges that pick that.

And now they're announced in the schools.

Just it's unbelievable.

It's middle school.

Yes.

Correct.

Yep.

And then we have amateur hour.

Yeah.

Amateur hour is is a process as well.

They they will start in the summertime with auditions and things and we'll, we'll kind of critique those and see, you know, what fits and what doesn't.

Make sure it's, you know, it's going to be appropriate for our event.

And then it works.

And then throughout the week they will perform on the main stage.

And and that works up to, to kind of a finalist type deal.

And we we award with some winners.

So it's, it's wonderful and there's so many it's not just singing and dancing.

You know, last year we had, someone on there that, performed martial arts was breaking boards and doing all kinds of things, and, they're just really, really cool pieces.

And it's it's just open to any kind of talent.

And.

Mary Ellen, tell us about the Munchie Map.

Oh, I think that's become an art form with, uh Munchies.

So we know if you've been to the Fall festival, you know, the first thing you do is try to get a Munchie Map, because we have a plethora of food to eat.

Yes, I agree, the the Pronto Pup is the first thing to check out for me, but then it's like, what's the new kid on the block that, as we know, deep fried anything has grown expanded at the fall festival.

You already explained well, corn dog, pronto pup.

But the other things that has been deep fried brain sandwiches probably is right behind.

That is as a long running item, but we've also deep fried Oreos, moon pies, Twinkies, pineapples, dandelions, olives, and frog legs.

Okay, that's just dandelions.

I love that one.

I missed that one.

I did, I did too, and what I think of as exotic food.

I came across a lot of things that it was a growing group, but frozen pickle juice.

We've had pig snorts.

Meatwad.

Infernos.

We've had pig in the mud, which is peanut butter and bacon on a sandwich sprinkled with powdered sugar, and you dip it in maple sugar.

We have had, sloppy Billy's, which is a loose meat sandwich made out of goat meat.

we've had piggy toes, clown noses, zippy chicky wild cat eyes, horseshoe sandwich, buggy fly candy, and then the crickets.

We cannot ignore, which Montessori I think has had, has held, a lead on that.

They've offered chocolate covered crickets, baked and icky licorice, which is a cricket in a lollipop.

So you could find anything at the Fall Festival.

And I always look forward to what's new this year.

And I don't have an alligator one time.

see, I doubt there's more here than what I've even got down.

I'm in on all that, but you guys are gonna have to report back to me on the damn line.

I'm.

I'm drawing a line, so I guess so.

Yeah.

I didn't last a long.

Well, I know, yeah.

Figure that one out either.

Okay.

here we go.

A little serious time.

topic now, security and safety, of course, is very important.

You've got all these people paramount for us on West Franklin Street.

Yeah.

Thousands of people going up and down the street.

you got children, you got the elderly.

so, I remember seeing officers on the rooftops.

I think that Batman on the rooftop on time.

Yeah.

So tell me about the security.

Yeah.

So?

So, Batman and, some of the superheroes, they are a regular, regular attendee at the festival.

And you can see them on the roof of the ghost house or old National, things like that down through there.

security and safety are absolutely one of our very top concerns every year.

that's where we start.

And we base our, the rest of our festival around that.

So everything is there based, we we could not do it without the, the coordination between, emergency management, epd efd Vanderburgh County Sheriff, them they all play a role in this.

So, it is a complete process.

We have meetings months and months and months ahead of time to, lay out different scenarios and what ifs and how we're going to stage things.

And if we do, you know, have somebody that's injured or sick or how do we get to them and all that stuff is covered.

So, our local law enforcement is just unbelievable in how thorough and professional they are.

I can't imagine a group anywhere in the country that's any more professional than what our local and local first responders are.

They're just absolutely vital to what we do.

Is homeland security involved?

Homeland security is involved in a number of different ways.

they start off our festival, they come and inspect the stages and all the areas that we're having events and things like that.

But they play a couple different roles.

And, we are constantly in touch and in discussion with them as well.

So yes, they do play a role with, with everything that we do.

And you have a medical tent.

Yeah.

So, we've got, medical facilities and first responders all up and down the street.

So when we do have somebody that, you know, has, any kind of issue, whether they just feel ill, whether somebody, you know, twisted ankle or scuffed something or whatever it may be, we've got ways to treat that and get to them.

And everybody's got a there's a path for everything.

So they really do a great job.

Okay.

Bathroom facilities.

Now, I remember I was reading that in the early days, people just go into the stores.

They had to go to the bathroom now and then.

You got the porta potties.

Is that a, a brand name?

I don't know, they k portable portable facility.

That's right.

Yep.

And we and we still use those.

We've got, we've also got some mobile bathrooms that, that we have built in on, that, they set up at, at 11.

Excuse me.

11th Avenue and Franklin.

And we have them down and around Wabash and things.

So, you know, you can it's never where you need it.

We got to kind of keep them in the same place each year where everybody knows where to go.

But, you know, really, we've, we've tried to, to accommodate as best we can and, we can always point you in the right direction, but usually you're within just a, you know, just a, you know, a half block or whatever where you need to be.

So it's covered.

All right.

parking, of course, is always kind of a challenge.

I know people have opened up their yards.

Well, and parking is just a general fundraiser in general for a lot of entities.

Not only is it just food booths on Franklin, but you have some entities that either have or have rented or borrowed existing lots.

You know, like the old Me Johnson lot on the corner, Lloyd and Saint Joe.

You know, there's a couple groups that work there, and there are several other private lots that that business may close for the week or limit their hours.

And they turn their parking lot over to different entities and allow them to charge for parking.

And that is sometimes their only fundraiser.

so that it is a it's just another piece.

So when you're, you know, when you're thinking about, man, do I really want to spend five bucks or whatever it is to park?

Keep in mind that's not just, you know, throwing money at something that's a lot of these entities are using it to, to support their groups.

And you have the shuttle busses downtown.

Yeah, they'll shuttle things back at lunchtime.

That's always, I think that's a really good idea.

Yeah, definitely.

And when you were talking about the the logo of the, festival, Mary Ellen, it was not exactly an acorn.

It.

Well, I think everyone assumes then that club has always been affiliated with acorns.

And it was, discussion of nuts as the Epicure Club, used to be called the nuts.

But if you look at, records from the first three months, actually, it was a nut from a nut and bolt.

mechanical nut.

Okay.

A six sided thing.

So if you look at, stationary that often nut club members, if you were the secretary or whatever company you worked for, you can't minutes on that.

So there was a, yeah.

The minutes were like on a letterhead.

Yeah.

The letterhead economy was a furniture store.

That was early on.

The secretary worked there, apparently, because the minutes were on there.

But there is a nut from a nut and bolt on top.

There is no acorn.

It was three months later they rescinded that and said, maybe that's not the best thing.

Acorns more captures from small things.

Big things.

Sure.

Yeah.

Now, Ed, how long have you been a nut clubber?

So, I have been in about 13 years so far.

what was your initiation like?

initiation was probably one of the most fun days I've ever had.

I absolutely loved it.

it's, it's changed a lot over the years, but it's a it's a day of fellowship and, a little constant ribbing to the day days from your from the existing members.

But it, it really just, kind of ties your, your class that gets in together, very tight.

You bond very close.

A lot of teambuilding experiences and different things.

some work projects have been done in the mornings when we go in and clean up an area or fix something and then some, some just general fun for the, for the members.

And we end with a, with a meeting with which has a meal and things, and, that's a day that no matter how long you've been coming around, every nut club member knows your name that day, and, you're going to learn them, but you're, you know, you're kind of the center of attention, and it's, it was just a lot of fun and, really, just, I just wish everybody could have experienced it.

It was just awesome.

Now, being a nut club, that's a generational thing.

Father, son, grandson.

Yeah.

Lots of, lots of father and son combos.

Lots of brother combos in the club.

as Mary Ellen stated earlier, you know, a lot of tradition there and, and different, different generations that come through, something we're very proud of makes a lot of fun.

I know my brother got in in 2019, so having him there has made a difference for me to to be able to something we can share.

And I know there are so many other siblings and father sons that are part of it.

And grandfathers, it's it's just a it's just an awesome, awesome togetherness feeling, just really brings, brings us even tighter.

Now, Mary Ellen, you have a family involvement.

Yes, I do and and it was three generations.

And in looking through the history and gathering that there was so much wonderful history to put in this book.

But one thing that I did come across was the longest charter member was a Joe Moto who died in 94.

He actually was the last of the original first year members of the not club.

But then you in 2019, there was a Francis Miller, and when he died, he'd been on that club member for 75 years.

Talk about longevity.

Yeah, he was an epitome of that.

And so that easily explains how you have two, three, four generations.

I think we have five current members that have been in 60 plus years, which is great.

It's awesome.

Tell me about Ham the Sam man.

Sam the ham made it.

Yeah, I guess I always get that wrong.

Yeah.

Sam the ham man.

Yeah.

So Sam the ham man was a staple down there for a long time now.

He's not there any longer.

but it was a, essentially a food truck, type of type of setup.

And, it was exactly as it sounds.

It was ham sandwiches.

he was not a nonprofit or anything.

He was.

He was.

That was his job.

He was a he was a for profit bass booth.

and, but that was an unbelievable.

Mark, he and land stop for, you know, landmark for people.

They went down.

I know my dad.

When we were going to the festival.

That was the first place you were going at the same time, it was a ham sandwich.

But, I mean, it must have been like the greatest ham sandwich you ever, because it was an unbelievable line.

And, it was just a great story.

Okay.

now we also have the carnival and midway attractions.

Yep.

So we we, the the midway operators, they bring in the games and the rides and, we work hard with them each year to make sure that we're getting quality and updated rides, that they're putting those in the correct places.

And and we take care of that.

They get all the game operators there and things like that to make sure that midway and that ride area is attractive to everybody of all ages and provides another, another tradition point and just family fun for everyone.

So they they do a great job.

now, Mary Ellen, when you go to these book signings, do people share their fall festival memories with you?

Of course.

I could write another book about the stories I hear at the book signings.

but, people have fond memories.

They just have fond memories.

And, it's the same thing.

Some I can share, some I can't.

Some are gut wrenching.

I mean, touching that the support they received, either from the group or a member or they were a member, received support that if they went through a hard time, I had one share.

very difficult time that involved a death.

And that person attributes the nightclub as being their main support.

So there's some wonderful stories beyond, yeah, a ham sandwich and a piano pub, but, yeah, the one thing I did, listen to that helped put things in perspective early on when I said whoever, was an officer, the secretary used the stationery from their work, one of the early ones that was shared.

That was the economy store, which was a general store.

They they advertised with their, not with the not in bolt, the early sign, for the nightclub in 21.

Underneath that they said, come visit our talking machine room.

Okay.

Do you want guess what?

That was a Victrola.

They just had invented record players, like, in 19 tens.

Something.

That's awesome.

And in 1921, that was just as important as putting that nut up.

There was to come visit our talking machine room so Victrola, and you could buy one for a dollar a week.

Now, we talked about the huge crowds, of course, at the festival, visitors from far and wide.

I guess you've had international visitors as well.

Absolutely.

You never know who's going to show up.

And we, you know, we normally catch wind of it usually as the festival's going on or just right before that, somebody coming in.

But yeah, as we mentioned earlier, so many folks with all the outreach that everybody has, it's not uncommon to have this is a major event for them to come in and want to celebrate.

If somebody looking for a reason to travel back to Evansville to, to meet family and things, they'll, they'll work at around this, I know as the president, you get a lot of email request for donations and things, but one of the most common emails I get and I get it every week.

Can you share with me the dates for this year's festival?

We have family coming and it's it's just unbelievable how many folks want to confirm those.

So what's the game plan for the festival in the next maybe 5 to 10 years.

So we're going to continue to improve.

We you know we again we we never really stop working on it.

There's a lot of things that we want to improve.

We're constantly improving security with cameras and different things that are there.

So we're constantly trying to upgrade that part of it.

We're working hard to get better sound and some new technology.

You know, you saw that go in place with the bossy main stage.

we have retrofitted our stage two, which is directly across from it, to be a little larger to accommodate those same size groups.

so we've constantly got infrastructure going on there.

we're working on, Wi-Fi signal and internet signal and things like that.

So we can do different things with whether it's sales kiosks for rides or whether we get to the point that we can do that for half powered or whatever the law may allow, we're always looking ahead to make sure that we are at least aware of the curve.

I don't know that we ever really get ahead of it, but we're aware of it and trying to keep up with that and making sure that we're bringing the best show and the best experience possible to all of Evansville, because it really is.

It's the city's festival.

It's not ours.

We're just the ones putting it together.

So you're kind of landlocked, though, with the length of West Franklin, right?

Yeah.

To a point.

you know, it's me.

It's been brought up to us.

Hey, can you expand another block and maybe go down to, you know, Ninth Avenue?

So that's it.

Or can you go a little further?

And.

Yeah, those things are probably possible.

But honestly, where we're at right now with the infrastructure we have with the, safety that we have in place, we're pretty comfortable with the footprint we have today.

we we know we can offer more events and kind of spread out, who's come into what.

So you've got different folks kind of coming and going for different events.

So there's no real immediate plans to do anything different there.

there's always we're changing attractions and changing different, different functions within the festival.

But, but yeah, we're a little bit landlocked, but, but actually, what we got right now seems to be working pretty well.

How many blocks?

So we're, we're basically four and a half blocks, I guess, for.

Yeah, four blocks.

So from while back, at least it starts at Wabash and, runs all the way down to Saint Joe's.

Okay.

Now, Mary Ellen, tell me about the cover of the book From Acorns to Oaks.

Well, our publisher did a wonderful job of, searching to to just capture the overall feel of the nightclub.

And he came across this is actually ran in a, in the Evansville Courier at one point.

it just captured the, the street festival, which we know is second largest in the nation.

And he liked the shot.

We all did and said, we gotta go with this.

It just captures the crowd, the festivity and the bright colors.

Now, the back cover, it's got some of the memorabilia.

Yes.

And some of those you might see inside.

I really like, the official program that's listed there on the right, from 1914.

That was the first teaser fall festival that happened that the West Side, Business Association put on.

And you might note that first one back then had a total of six booths.

And it was a very farm show type atmosphere, you know, poultry and.

Yeah, yeah, chickens and I know fruits and vegetables.

One of the contest, the winner won 1,001 pounds of chicken feed off.

And they mentioned who donated it.

So it's changed a bit over a century.

But yes wonderful.

And us eyes off on the left.

That was the groundbreaking.

Saw some, some regular scenes, some highlight scenes.

now, as we mentioned, during the program, the, the half pot is probably the biggest, one of the biggest draws now next to the food booth, I guess.

And what's your feeling about that?

It's going to continue to be big and bigger and bigger and bigger every year.

Yeah.

So I mean, obviously it's it's as big as like as the community wants to support it.

We are trying to be as transparent as we possibly can on where those funds go.

We share that every year through our Founders Day event, on what we're doing with the bulk of those monies, we have, routine, media press releases going out when we're given, giving different things away through the rest of the year.

That kind of lets the community know what's going on.

So, yeah, I would continue.

I would assume that's going to continue to grow and get to the point that it is now.

can we take more and process more?

Yeah, we could but but you know, the biggest thing is getting people on the street to enjoy the festival.

not just the half pot, but, you know, all of those food booths that are up and down the street.

This is their only fundraiser.

So a lot of them and, and so to be able to, to get that down there and get people there to enjoy the traditions and have that family centric time that is really are key.

The half pot is wonderful.

We absolutely love it and love the outreach and it's given us, but we want to be sure that we're not losing sight of the festival itself and what it does for our local families and other nonprofit.

What was the total for the 2020 three half pot?

we were a little over 1.8 million, I believe.

Wow.

That's amazing.

My guests have been Mary Ellen Iliac, author of From Acorns to Oaks and West Side Nut Club President Ed Dietz.

Thanks so much, guys, for for sharing the history of the Fall Festival.

And, we'll see you on West Franklin Street the first week of October.

Absolutely.

Thank you so much.

Looking forward to it.

Thanks a lot, guys.

I'm David James and this is Two Main Street.