BurgerFest reorganizes under new leadership, seeks volunteers
After 25 years of jointly presenting BurgerFest on the third Saturday of July in the Village of Hamburg, three of the four service clubs that have organized the event since 1998 have decided to withdraw from the charitable fundraiser and community event. The Kiwanis Club of Hamburg alone plans to continue with BurgerFest 2024 and is seeking additional volunteers to join them for the July 20 event, according to Sue Ganey of Kiwanis.
BurgerFest has been coordinated by a Committee consisting of members of the Rotary Club of Hamburg (evening), the Hamburg Sunrise Rotary Club (morning), the Town of Hamburg Lions Club and the Kiwanis Club of Hamburg. Chairs or co-chairs have been members of the four clubs on two-year rotations to head the Committee. The Hamburg Sunrise Rotary Club announced last year 2023 would be their final year, but the three remaining clubs expected to carry on with changes.
Recently, the Rotary Club of Hamburg and the Town of Hamburg Lions Club decided they would also withdraw from BurgerFest. Each expressed best wishes to Kiwanis for success with the event and gratitude to the community for its support over the years.
“The Rotary Club of Hamburg appreciates the many years the community has supported BurgerFest. Your embrace of the festival has helped us to raise financial support earmarked for projects such as Warm the Children and Farm to Family that make Hamburg a fantastic place to live and work,” said Eileen Hotho, a member of the Rotary Club of Hamburg who has served as chair of BurgerFest several times and has volunteered as the publicist for BurgerFest for many years.
“BurgerFest has long been a gathering place for friends to reunite, but it was also a forum for business and not-for-profits and recognized the talents of our youth. We thank you for coming back year after year to support this major fundraiser and enabling our service clubs that organized it to fund scholarships and charitable and civic projects that brought hope to those facing economic challenges.” Hotho said that as the Rotary Club contemplated another year with the BurgerFest, they polled their membership and found the majority felt that the effort required for organizing the enormous event had become more daunting as the event grew and perhaps it is time for others to take the lead.”
Stuart Wheaton also expressed his appreciation to the community on behalf of the Lions Club “The Hamburg Lions are proud to have helped bring BurgerFest to the public for the past 25 years. Along with our fellow service organizations, we have returned the charitable funds raised by this annual event directly back to our community, for those most in need. We thank you all for your valued support through the years.”
The first BurgerFest was presented in 1985 by the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the creation of the first hamburger at the Hamburg Fairgrounds, site of the Erie County Fair. The Chamber had discovered a 1970 publication “Tanbark & Tinsel” by historian John C. Kunzog that included his 1920s era interview of Frank Menches who created the hamburger with his brother Frank Menches. He told the story of how the hamburger got its name – from Hamburg, New York, where the first hamburger was cooked and served as a sandwich at the Erie County Fair on Hamburg Fairgrounds. When asked for the name of the newly popular sandwich, the brothers, restaurateurs from Ohio, saw the Hamburg Fair sign and said “Well, the Hamburger, of course.”
While the event was headed by the Chamber, the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs assisted with the annual event until leadership passed to the Friends of Hamburg in the late 1980s. The baton was passed once again in 1998 in a four-way split to the Rotary Club of Hamburg, the Kiwanis Club of Hamburg, Hamburg Rotary, Sunrise Club and Lions Club of Hamburg. Each organization had specific responsibilities for the festival. Those interested in joining the Kiwanis BurgerFest effort as a volunteer or sponsor are asked to contact Sue Ganey at sueganey@aol.com or 716-208-3768. Organizational meetings are being planned for the July 20 event.
BurgerFest celebrates the creation of the first hamburger during the Erie County Fair at the Hamburg Fairgrounds in 1885.
BurgerFest is located along Main and Buffalo Streets and in the Village of Hamburg Municipal Parking Lot. The Food Court of BurgerFest includes a variety of your favorite foods, not just burgers, including Food Trucks. The one-day festival has something for everyone, from Kids Space children’s inflatable rides and activities; an arts and crafts show and sale, the Classic Car Show and the Beer Tent.
Food Vendors interested in participating in the Food Court can download an application, rules and regulations forms. For more information contact Sue Ganey at sueganey@aol.com or 716-208-3768
To participate as an Arts and Crafts Vendor, a General Merchant, a Nonprofit, or a Political Information Booth download an application from the REGISTER tab on this website. For more information contact Sue Ganey at sueganey@aol.com or 716-208-3768
