Plano-Bologna-Sandwich Day promotes fellowship while benefiting area food pantries

BOLOGNA – Supporting area food pantries and honoring the work of their volunteers was the focus of the annual “Plano-Bologna-Sandwich Day.”

For the sixth year running, the municipality of Bologna, Illinois, materialized for a few hours Sunday in an open field along Route 34 that is, well, sandwiched between Plano and Sandwich.

Residents from the two communities came together for music, games, camaraderie and, of course, the fried bologna sandwiches.

The centerpiece of the event is the swearing in of Bologna’s co-mayors, who take a solemn oath to have fun.

This year’s mayors for a day included Harvest Chapel Food Pantry Director Jeff Ikemire of Sandwich and Kendall County Community Food Pantry Chairman Greg Witek representing Plano.

Ikemire grew up in Plano and has been living in Sandwich for 30 years. He said Harvest Chapel, located on County Line Road in Sandwich, serves 80 area families without any qualifications.

“Anybody that walks in gets food,” said Ikemire, who is driven to provide assistance to others.

“My life is easy,” Ikemire said. “I know I can help and want to. God didn’t put us here to be loners. We have to help each other.”

“He is serving to provide a very purposeful opportunity for those in need,” Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham said of Ikemire.

Witek, a Millbrook resident but Plano’s mayoral contribution to Bologna’s ephemeral city government, has been working to grow the Kendall County pantry operation.

The pantry recently hired a full-time director, Suzanne Stegman of Aurora. She said the food pantry, with its main site in Yorkville and remote locations in Plano and Oswego, serves about 275 families, about 700 individuals.

“We always need volunteers,” Witek said. “The area population is in need and our numbers continue to rise. We have new families every time we open. There are a lot of single moms and seniors.”

The Kendall County Community Food Pantry offers food and clothing and even operates a medical clinic in conjunction with the Edward Medical Group.

Witek said working on the food pantry’s complex operations can be physically and emotionally taxing, but is made worthwhile when hearing stories from clients about how the assistance they receive make a big difference in their lives.

“When you hear a story like that it really recharges you,” Witek said. “That’s the hook. This is something I feel called to be a part of.”

Both Latham and Plano Mayor Mike Rennels helped Bologna Day founder and organizer Chris Schwemlein of Sandwich swear in the two co-mayors.

Bologna Day always has been something of a tongue-in-cheek joke among friends.

The event is held as near to Oct. 24 as possible, because it was on that date in 1661 that Cardinal Girolamo Farnese of Bologna, Italy, issued an edict that proscribed the composition and purity of the popular pork product made in the walled city.

For Plano-Bologna-Sandwich Day, that means frying each thick slice to an internal temperature of 140 degrees before sandwiching it in a bun.

This year, Schwemlein took the joke to the next level with the creation of an imaginary “Baloney University” and called upon the crowd to join the Pi-Beta-Sigma-Delta organization, pledging to help raise money and nonperishable food donations for food pantries.

Both Ikemire and Witek said that donations of food and hygiene products are appreciated at the food pantries. However, they each said that financial donations can be stretched much further when the food pantries make purchases through the Northern Illinois Food Bank.