Best place in town to eat

Most baseball teams prefer to play their games on their home fields. But, in Southwest Missouri, if the team can't play at home, most of their fans at least would rather play at the ball field in McDonald County.

While the field is very much the same as any other, there is one big difference.

The concession stand at McDonald County has become famous for great food.

Operated by the American Legion Auxiliary, the stand has become not just a place for fans at the game to grab a hamburger or a hotdog, it has become the place to just go out and have supper.

The operation of the concession is shouldered by Legion member Rebecca Hall who has nothing but high praise for the auxiliary ladies and team parents. Besides the regular run of hamburger, hotdogs, popcorn and soft drinks, this concession stand serves homemade peach, blackberry and apple cobblers and pies, topped with ice cream if you so desire.

A look at the dessert area in the back of the stand shows big thick, rich cobblers and unbelievable homemade banana cream pies.

But even the humble burgers and hotdogs are special. Long before the game starts, volunteers create a large pan of "fixings" and another container of sliced cheese.

"You don't buy a cheeseburger from us," Hall explained. "You pay for a hamburger and then you put on all the tomatoes and lettuce and onions you want and if you want a cheeseburger, you help yourself to the cheese."

Most of the regular fans have long ago learned to go to the ballpark hungry because they can get "the best meal in town," at the concession stand.

"One night we played either Carl Junction or Webb City and some of their fans came to eat," Hall remembered. "The next night we were playing someone else and here came the fans from last night. They came down just for supper. Paid their way into the gate so they could eat."

On the last night of the season, fans were lined up for supper. One lady approached the counter and said, "My husband tells me you have the best food anywhere."

Asked if she believed everything her husband told her, she quickly responded, "I believe everything he says about food."

She quickly ordered a hamburger and began adding the things she likes on a hamburger and, in short order, nodded her approval of supper.

Working with volunteers, Hall is proud of the quality and quantity of the food offered at the stand. Beef for the hamburgers is locally grown and donated each summer by a local cattleman. Desserts are provided as a donation.

"Parents bring lots of the pies and cobblers and the Auxilary ladies have a schedule so for each game, the ladies know who is responsible for the pies," Hall said.

Profits from the concession stand are used by the Legion Post to support the team.

"We usually make between three to four thousand dollars each summer," Hall said. "I think we have 10 or 11 games."

Along with the regular meal, fans can buy soft drinks, ice cream cones, popcorn and candy bars. According to volunteer Renee Smith, popcorn is easy to sell "The smell of it sells it," she said.

Candy bars are also popular and the sellers refuse to have any candy that must sell for more than fifty cents. "We had Snicker bars for a while and, by selling them for fifty cents, we made one penny," Hall said. "So we don't sell them anymore."

The season has ended, but there's an old saying in baseball "Just wait 'till next year."

That is true for the team and, at least in McDonald County, it's true for a concession stand that has gained a wide reputation among American Legion baseball players and fans.