Independent travelers love to get in with real people in real places--and eat real food. On the northern plains in autumn (the best season for travel in the region), independent travelers can find what they are looking for by attending fall suppers, which are perennial festivities in countless prairie communities.

The first fall suppers commence the weekend after Labor Day. Activity peaks the first week of October, then diminishes as November comes and Thanksgiving approaches. The fall supper tradition is a mainstay of the cultural calendar on the northern plains. Many of these events trace their history back to the 1930s or earlier.

Community organizations, mostly churches, put on fall suppers on designated days. They serve the same foods in the same places every year, and the people in charge assume customary roles in making them happen. Neighbors and distant kin assemble to be fed—commonly with turkey and dressing (or sauerkraut), sometimes with roast beef or pork, perhaps with some other local or ethnic specialty, like homemade sausage. They wait patiently in line, renew conversations and acquaintances, and go away satisfied.

Lutefisk suppers are a specialty of Norwegian communities. Eating lutefisk (dried cod preserved with lye) is, if not a sacrament, then certainly an homage to people's Norwegian ancestors. It also constitutes a sort of hazing ritual for newcomers and visitors.

The logistics of putting on a fall supper are matters of folklore; people pass them along within the group. Every fall supper tradition, too, flows from the culture that hosts it, expressing local, ethnic, and community values in tangible and tasty fashion.

Fall suppers are vital rituals that bolster regional culture in three ways.

1.      Fall suppers generate revenue, thereby assisting with the upkeep of churches and other facilities and organizations. In a region with more infrastructure than population, functions like these are important. When you attend a fall supper, you are helping out the local community.

2.      The events reinforce and perpetuate community identity. In putting on fall suppers, people have roles to fill, designated positions and responsibilities. Cooperation in the accomplishment of tasks brings people together and strengthens their sense of place. This sort of community cooperation is a joy to observe.

3.      Fall suppers validate the community again and again by serving a reunion function. People travel home from great distances, families and friends reunite, in order to serve one another. It is wonderful to be surrounded by joyous reunions as you partake of a fall supper.

How to Find a Fall Supper

Travelers frequently come upon fall suppers in serendipitous fashion. Look for posters and flyers in gas stations, cafes, and other public places.

Since churches, especially country churches, are the most common hosts of fall suppers, you can find a lot of them by going online and searching denominational websites. Catholic diocese, in particular, like to post notices of the fall suppers in their parishes.

Finally, you can avail yourself of the information on fall suppers compiled by the Center for Heritage Renewal, North Dakota State University (heritagerenewal.org). The center collects directory information every fall and also gathers reports from students about fall suppers across the state and  region.