Church serves breakfast for carnival workers

MARYVILLE, Mo. — In what has become an annual tradition, members of the First Christian Church in Maryville stayed up late to serve breakfast to carnival workers before the Nodaway County Fair.

While much of Maryville was getting ready for bed Wednesday night, the community room of the First Christian Church looked more like a Sunday morning.

For each of the past three years, the outreach committee at the church, led by Sue Schenkel, has served breakfast to carnival workers before they start setting up for the Nodaway County Fair. That means “breakfast” is closer to a midnight snack — this year it was served at 10:30.

The free meal was the brainchild of former pastor Dale Stewart, who saw a similar event in Kansas City and brought it to Maryville.

“These guys are always so great about accommodating us,” said Daniel Yarnell, the owner and operator of Toby’s Carnival Company. Yarnell said it’s something his crew looks forward to every year.

Workers from two locations of Toby’s Carnival Company — one in Marceline, Missouri, and one in Arma, Kansas — meet up every year at the church, packing in 20-30 people for the late-night breakfast. Schenkel said the breakfast has remained largely the same in its fourth year, though many of the faces change each time.

What never changes, though, is the popularity of the egg casserole.