New Richland Fall Festival

All Saints Catholic Church in New Richland held its annual all-you-can-eat Dad’s Belgian Waffles breakfast during its 2025 Fall Festival on Sunday, Sept. 28. God made sure to send them a light wind and plenty of sunshine for their celebration. Nancy Rudau, volunteer for the day, observed attendance seemed higher than last year. “With the beautiful weather, it helps that almost every church member is here volunteering.”

 

With 12 waffle irons in front of him and a wall of syrup to his left, John Morgan, owner of Dad’s Belgian Waffles out of Algona, Iowa for the past 28 years, kept the line moving and the waffles flowing. In between the waffles and syrup stood volunteer and All Saints church member Steve Wigham passing out sausage links.

 

Once diners received their waffles, it became decision time–homemade whipped cream, maple syrup, strawberry syrup, blueberry, boysenberry or sugar-free maple? Along with in-house dining in the church basement, there was also a to-go option which volunteers were putting together for those guests who wanted waffles, but were unable to attend. Morgan was asked what his record for total waffles in a day is. After a long pause for thought, he replied, “There was that one day a few years back, I served a little over 3,000 waffles in a single day. That was the most for me.” He added, “About four months ago I served my one-millionth plate.”

 

Finishing up their breakfasts were Fall Festival committee members Pam Shurson and Lori Anderson. They gave a quick recap about the evolution of the festival. Said Anderson, “This started as a turkey dinner around 1985, then it turned into a pulled pork dinner, which eventually changed into the Dad’s Belgian Waffle breakfast.” Shurson revealed that, “Mr. Morgan, the waffle caterer, brought everything with him except for the juice, milk and coffee; the fall festival committee brought that.

 

“With all the people helping outside and the people down in the church basement, I’d say we have at least 50 people volunteering today.” Anderson nodded her agreement.

 

Outside was a children’s activity area offering gourd and pumpkin painting, corn hole games and soccer. In a grassy open area was the silent auction. On the auction block for the day was a wide variety of items including plate sets,  homemade quilts, a soup kettle with various soups inside, Casey’s Pizza certificates, a mini fridge with accompanying beer, gift certificates from Neighbor's Meats, and more. Next to that was the Country Store, selling produce, baked goods, candy and some thrift items.