A Wolf Point Stampede isn’t the same without waiting in line in the hot summer sun to eat a “Catholic burger.”
The infamous burger and its stand, one of the first stops for Stampede-goers, began serving them 67 years ago. The line snakes a few hundred feet after the parade and rodeo and maybe lets up in the wee morning hours.
Photography by Lynn Donaldson
An annual fundraiser for the Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish, the stand – open 24 hours during the Stampede – will go through a ton of hamburger and hundreds of pounds of onions in four days, said parish member co-organizer Kerry Hanks.
“That smell of fried onions and burger drifts down the block, and sometimes the line of people will, too,” she said. “That’s a big part of our success.”
Many Catholic burger devotees like their burgers piled high with fried onions. “The secret to cooking the onions is using pickle juice instead of grease,” said local physician Mark Zylkoski.
The burger stand started out as a small concession stand on one of Wolf Point’s side streets about six decades ago but its popularity forced it to set up on an empty lot on Main Street during Stampede.
Catholic Burger Stand opens 11:00 am Thursday, July 9 and closes 3:00 pm Sunday, July 12.
Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede is July 9 – 12, 2015. For a complete Stampede schedule click here.