Media Contact:
Amy Mehaffey
Communications & Main Street Director
mehaffeya@ci.nacogdoches.tx.us
936.559.2572
What better way to spend a Friday night in Downtown Nacogdoches than to attend a dinner where all the courses are meat, bread and beer? The Nacogdoches County Historical Foundation is throwing Nacogdoches’ second annual Beefsteak Dinner on Friday, October 13th at Mast Hall.
Our Beefsteak event will start at 7 pm; tickets are $50 each and are available at the Nacogdoches Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Sterne-Hoya House Museum & Library and from any Nacogdoches County Historical Foundation Board member. The event will be held the traditional way- no silverware, no napkins, and no plates. Attendees will get hearty portions of meat, bread, and beer served family-style at their table and will be given a commemorative apron to wear during the event and take home with them! The food being served has been donated by local restaurants. Our local restaurants and partners participating this year are: Butcher Boys, Nacogdoches Medical Center, Clear Springs, Auntie Pastas, Pilgrim’s Pride, the Nacogdoches Jaycees, R & K Distributors, Ralph & Kackoos, CC’s Smokehouse, Cotton Patch Café, SFA Hospitality Department, University Rental and Texas Size Bling, Newks and Wing Stop. The Nacogdoches Beefsteak dinner directly benefits the restoration of the historic Zion Hill Baptist Church.
The Nacogdoches County Historical Foundation has worked for more than ten years to raise funds and fully restore the beautiful and historic Zion Hill Baptist Church in Nacogdoches. This church, built in 1914, was the cornerstone of the African American community in Nacogdoches and the Zion Hill neighborhood. Once fully restored, this building will be opened to the public as a meeting venue, public space and the building will house museum exhibits on the history of the Zion Hill congregation and the historic district. The City of Nacogdoches, as well as the Nacogdoches County Historical Foundation, are hopeful that the Beefsteak event will be a success to the community and will help revive the Zion Hill Baptist Church!
Beefsteak dinners originated in the early 1900’s in New Jersey and New York and were a time honored tradition around election time. A friend of a politician would throw their friend a Beefsteak dinner – a dinner full of meat, beer and bread – and raise money for the campaign. These dinners were rowdy and unsophisticated; there are no plates, no napkins and no forks or knives. Men were encouraged to wear their “second best suit because of the inevitably of grease spots” and the events took place on the weekend so the attendees would have time to recover before the work week.
Please contact the Historic Sites Department at
936-560-4443 or historicsites@ci.nacogdoches.tx.us
for more information.
