Carols and beans
Annual Bean Feed, second under Tuolumne County Sportsmen, goes off without a hitch
Galen “Mut” Mutzner, 92, dressed in a white cowboy hat and a red stylized bandana, shook hands along the serving line at the annual free Sonora Bean Feed on Friday before shuffling over to the rope handle of his iconic silver bell.
“Thank you for taking over,” Mutzner told one member of the Tuolumne County Sportsmen, a hunting and fishing organization staging its second feed following Mutzner’s retirement in 2017.
Mutzner has now settled comfortably into his role as a celebrity founder: he’s happier than ever to hearken in the beans with the clang of his bell and settle in, moments later, on a stool at The Sportsman with a beer and a coterie of admirers.
“Ring the bell, that’s one thing I can always do,” said Mutzner, who founded the event in 1987. “I don’t have to worry about it. It’s all up to them now. We had a lot of fun.”
Outside, the beans were boiling and the butter-garlic bread was baking.
At noon, a line of festive locals — some dressed in garish “ugly sweaters” or Christmas hats — extended all the way to the upper entrance to Coffill Park. 15 minutes later, the line was still just as long.
“It’s called a hometown kind of thing, this is why we come,” said Bill Bamford, 76 of Twain Harte.
Seated in the sun along Linoberg Street with a few friends, he raised a plastic spoon to his lips and slurped up the ruddy red concoction which belched ribbons of steam. This
was his twentieth feed, he estimated, and he was surprised to note the improvement of the beans over the previous year.
“They're very good this year, very up to par,” he said.
Jim Phelan, President of the Tuolumne County Sportsmen, said the group had dealt with some of the issues of the previous year — specifically a heating problem which allowed the beans to be cooked through, soft, moist and chewable.
“It's going extremely well. I think the beans are better than last year,” Phelan said.
“We learn by experience,” added a Sportsman standing beside him.
The clambor of Mutzner's bell was attended by a constant jingle from Sonora Police Chief Turu Vanderwiel in front of a Salvation Army donation jar.
Behind him, the serving line flowed along through hundreds of hungry patrons.
First, Sonja Harris Langan of San Andreas would ladle the beans into a paper cup. Next was garlic bread and quesadillas — if you asked for extra they'd give them to you — and then a candy cane from a modern-looking Santa dressed in blue, Kurt Cobainstyle insect-eye glasses.
“It's all about finding the right rhythm, finding the right ladle,” said Langan.
“I don't think I've been here since I was four years old, but it's really nice to come out and help. I've always been working. This year I got to join it. It's a really cool event that's distinct to our town.”
Harris Langan is the daughter of the President of Conifer Communications, a sponsor whose logo emblazoned the bean cups.
The preparation began at 5 a.m., said one Sportsman who was mixing the bean and meat mixture with a wooden paddle spoon inside a wide metal vat.
This year, the beans were distinguished by their high viscosity: dense, hearty — and when eaten immediately after serving — molten. A spice aroma settled like humidity around Linoberg Street.
“I love the sense of community. It puts you in the Christmas spirit,” said Claudia Bellevue, a Sonora resident there with her husband and her two grandchildren. Attending the feed — and calling her grandchildren out of school — had become an annual tradition since she and her husband moved to the area nine years ago from the Castro Valley.
“They don't do anything like this there,” said Paul Bellevue.
Their grandchildren, Will Johnson, 14, and Michael Johnson, 12, both nibbled on the beans behind wide smiles.
“I think it's pretty cool they do it every year. I like getting out of school to come here. It's pretty fun,” Will Johnson said.
Eaters lined up along the perimeter of
building. As the day went on and the line grew shorter, the ladle poured heavier.
Many returned with their bean-stained cups for seconds and were happily received by the Tuolumne County Sportsmen in red matching hats.
One person, Larry Biel of Sonora, brought a reusable tupperware.
“It seemed like a good idea,” he said. “What they have now is better than the styrofoam of the past.”
The bean feed preceded the start of the community Pop Hudson Memorial Christmas Sing, hosted by The Union Democrat.
The organizations and their songs included The Union Democrat singing “O Come All Ye Faithful;” the Summerville Parent Nursery School singing “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer;” Tuolumne County Behavioral Health singing “Let it Snow;” Stanislaus National Forest rangers singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas;” Baseline Camp inmate singing “Winter Wonderland;” Tuolumne County law enforcement singing “Jingle Bells;” Center for a Non Violent Community singing “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree;” Tuolumne County Association of Realtors singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas;” city and county government staff singing “Silver Bells;” the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill singing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen;” the Amador-tuolumne Community Action Agency singing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing;” local ars and storytelling groups singing “Silent Night” and “Oh Hanukkah;” and the Sonora Lions Club singing “Joy to the World.”
Contact Giuseppe Ricapito at (209) 588-4526 or gricapito@uniondemocrat. com. Follow him on Twitter @g_ricapito.