Magoon’s hosts Morel Mushroom Fest

By Chris Fortune

Crowds of visitors gathered at Magoon’s Famous Delicatessen for live music and mushroom delicacies.

The deli at 632 South Eighth St. hosted six musical acts from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday as guests gathered inside for food and entertainment. But other visitors opted to enjoy the sunshine on the adjoining patio with friends while enjoying fried morel mushrooms.

One married couple even came from Denver for the event. Troy Dickinson’s wife is a St. Joseph native, and he said she enjoys coming back home for the festivities.

“My wife loves them. It’s a Missouri thing,” he said. “I never had them until we got married 24 years ago.”

Dickinson said he enjoyed the small city vibes in St. Joseph, where everyone seems to know each other, because it is different from what he is used to in Denver. He also made sure he purchased some morels to take back home before leaving Magoon’s.

“We got the dehydrated (morel mushrooms) and then put them in soups at home, and if I need more, I call Tom (Weipert),” Dickinson said while laughing. “He sends them to me.”

Tom Weipert, known as “The Mushroom King,” said morel mushrooms usually sprout in the spring, and as a child, he would be able to hunt them in Missouri for about three to six weeks.

Morel season has passed in Missouri, but it hasn’t stopped him from traveling across the country for them.

“I started going to Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, and I picked morels in about every state in the United States,” he said.

Weipert knows how popular fried morel mushrooms are at the event, so he brought 58 pounds of morel mushrooms to fry.

“It’s a huge family, and these people are loyal, so they come every year for this thing,” Weipert said. “Last year, we didn’t have enough mushrooms, and they were all pretty disappointed. But this year I’m doing good.”