The Manchester Chicken Broil … from the beginning

The Chicken Broil giant chicken has made a few appearances in the Manchester Fair Parade and other events!

by Marsha Chartrand

The Manchester Enterprise, dateline Thursday, June 24, 1954: “The Exchange Club has planned functions to benefit the Athletic Field Fence Fund, which include a huge barbecue chicken dinner.” The Exchange Club and the Jaycees (the latter formed earlier in that same year) were said to be jointly sponsoring the Chicken Barbecue.

So begins the saga of the first Manchester Chicken Broil. This was the earliest printed reference found to what has now become our community’s largest annual event. A few weeks later, came another announcement that, “If you want to taste charcoal-broiled chicken at it’s (sic) finest, salted, buttered, with well-done meat under a crisp, toasted skin, bring your family and friends to the Manchester Athletic Field, any time after four o’clock, Thursday, August 12.”

Is your mouth watering yet?

A description of the special broiling process, which was overseen by the Michigan State College cooks, follows.

“Four experts from Michigan State College, headed by Howard Zindell, chief of poultry department, will supervise cooking. … Ludy Klager, chairman of the barbecue, announces that he has arranged to buy 700 chickens, each weighing 3 1/2 pounds, which will be dressed and split in halves for cooking by the Michigan State College team of cooks. People come not only to eat the chicken, but to watch the nationally-renowned college equipment in action. There will be crews to serve, prepare the tables for the next sitting, and keep things moving. It will be worth the price of admission just to watch the chickens broiling and to sniff the aroma.”

And what was the “price of admission” in those early days? Well, safe to say that inflation has caught up with the Chicken Broil in the last 70 years, as it has with the rest of us. In 1954 the cost of the feast was $1.50 for adults and 75¢ for a child’s half portion. This year, tickets are $12 presale and $13 at the gate. It remains a good bargain for the money spent — especially the “sniffing the aroma” part!

The menu, too, has changed little over the years. From the earliest publicity: “The menu, in addition to chicken, is potato chips, relishes, buttered buns.” One addition in the relishes department has been the famous savory coleslaw — often imitated, never duplicated. It has become one of the most famous and popular components on the menu — other than the chicken itself.

That first Chicken Broil was deemed a success; the Manchester Enterprise of August 19, 1954, noted, “Nearly a Ton of Chicken Consumed; Civic Project Nets 1,000 Dollars.” Almost 2,000 hungry people from Manchester, many southern Michigan towns, and points as far away as Iowa ate charcoal-broiled chicken at the Athletic Field that Thursday in August of 1954. Chairman for the day, Luther “Ludy” Klager, assisted “at least half the grown and able-bodied men in Manchester.” Blessed with a full moon, cool weather, and high attendance, gross receipts were estimated at $2,200.

Today’s Chicken Broil committee still includes “at least half the grown and able-bodied men in Manchester,” your dinner still is cooked in the same manner as the original Broil, according to Dr. Zindell’s exacting standards, and the tradition begun by a $1,000 donation to the Athletic Field Fence Fund has extended throughout the community over the past 70 years. The Chicken Broil has donated $718,250.26 in actual dollars to various community projects. Converted to today’s dollars, that figure rises to $1,426,581.

That’s a lot of chicken.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.