LEBANON, Pa. − Hundreds of hungry fairgoers lined up at a Pennsylvania fair this week to get their slice of the 150-foot Lebanon bologna sandwich, proclaimed by the event organizer as the world’s largest Lebanon bologna sandwich.
The sandwich, half sweet bologna and half original, was constructed in about 40 minutes with the help of roughly 60 volunteers, mostly all wearing matching “Bologna Security” T-shirts.
Some 1,200 slices of Seltzer’s bologna and 600 slices of provolone cheese were put together as four slices of bologna, one slice of cheese, then another four slices of bologna between 200 pounds of freshly baked French bread.
The event, put on by Visit Lebanon Valley, took place at the Lebanon Expo Center, just east of the state’s capital of Harrisburg.
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Two days and 12-hour shifts
Pastry arts Chef Brian Peffley said that all the bread was baked in two days over two 12-hour shifts, producing about 90 loafs of bread each about 2.5 pounds.
“When Visit Lebanon Valley contacted me I said, ‘Well, who’s doing your bread?” Peffley said. ” They were originally going to go to a grocery store and have it just sent to them, but I said to them, ‘How about we make the bread? ‘Cause I think it would be a great opportunity to showcase our school and to be a part of this.'”
Peffley, who’s done large gingerbread houses and large chocolate sculptures, said that this was absolutely the largest thing he’s ever baked.
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Condiments anyone?
A condiments table was set up on the far end of the sandwich with mayonnaise, mustard and Dieffenbach’s chips for those who prefer their bologna sandwich with smashed chips on top.
Each foot of the sandwich, each producing about six individual sandwiches when cut, was sponsored by a local business, organization or community member for $100. All of the proceeds were donated to the Lebanon County Christian Ministries to combat food insecurity in the Lebanon Valley.
Executive director of LCCM Bryan Smith said that this time of the year tends to be when donations are at their lowest, so the timing of the partnership couldn’t be more perfect.
“This is an awesome spectacle,” Smith said. “The why behind this you wont see tonight, but the why behind this is the community and it’s the 97 households that we served today in our pantry. It’s the 130 free meals that we had at lunch today. So don’t lose track of the why we’re doing this.”
Proceeds exceed goal
The original goal for the event was to raise $15,000 for the LCCM, but Visit Lebanon Valley President Jennifer Kuzo said they raised well over their goal.
Because of the physical restraints of the building, they could not make the sandwich any larger than 150 feet.
To little surprise, the sandwich that logistically took months of planning, and about 40 minutes to construct, took only about 20 minutes to chop up and get bulk of the line their slice, with the line butting right up to a table playing Weird Al Yankovic’s “My Bologna,” where visitors could take a personality test to figure out what flavor of bologna they were.
