Egg Day’s Famous Sandwiches Served With a Dollop of Nostalgia

Small-town summer festivals almost always include three things: A parade, the crowning of a ceremonial court, and local delicacies. The last of the three offerings can range from the fresh produce a region is known for to fried butter on a stick, the latter of which is traditionally served at the Iowa State Fair.

At Egg Day in Winlock, hundreds of people line up each year to receive one or two of the more than 1,000 egg salad sandwiches prepared in the days leading up to the Saturday event by volunteers from the Lions Club of Winlock and other local organizations.

Members of the Egg Day Court, which this year included Queen Maggie Maddox of Winlock High School and Princess Rebekah Day of Adna High School, helped serve the sandwiches Saturday inside the cafeteria at Winlock Miller Elementary School.

The line wound through the cafeteria and out to the sidewalk as people walked across the railroad tracks from downtown Winlock following the parade, looking for a taste of Winlock history.

“I’ve been here since 1953, and I’ve missed maybe one Egg Day since then,” said Robert Allen, who wore an Egg Day shirt from 1986 over more formal attire as he enjoyed his sandwich. “Winlock used to be the egg producing capital of the world. I used to catch chickens at a hatchery for $12 a day in the 1960s. Because of all that, the sandwiches bring to mind the culture of Winlock, and they have a special bond with the legend of the town and community.”

Allen was just one of many longtime locals who said Saturday that the sandwiches are a point of nostalgia for their own experiences growing up in a town that used to have numerous chicken farms and that sent boxcars of eggs and poultry products out each day from the town co-op.

Mike Porter has family ties to the area dating back nearly 150 years — his great-grandmother was the namesake for the community of Evaline, located just a few miles north of Winlock.

The Porter family used to maintain a 200-acre farm in Evaline, where they raised chickens among other livestock. Mike Porter lived in or around Winlock for about 70 years before moving to Olympia, but still drives down each June for Egg Day. 

Porter said that he sees people each year that he grew up with and that for many groups, the festival serves as a yearly reunion spot for people to catch up over those egg salad sandwiches.

“The sandwiches bring back memories of all the eggs and chickens we had,” he said. “Everyone had chicken houses on their property. Coming back each year, it’s like a homecoming for me. It’s where my roots are.”

The annual event also serves to remind Winlock residents of the power a small community can have when it rallies around a singular task. It takes two days for volunteers to prepare the egg salad and then make the sandwiches before handing them out. 

Maddox and Day each said they valued their opportunity to contribute by giving back to the community on Saturday and throughout the year they’ll serve as representatives of Egg Day at events across Southwest Washington. Jo Ann Porter, a member of the local Lions Club chapter who helped the girls behind the counter on Saturday, said Egg Day represents how food can bring people together across just about any possible dividing line.

Porter added that she knows people who plan their vacations around Egg Day, while others do not eat egg salad, but for the one day a year they line up with their neighbors for a helping between two pieces of bread.

For Allen, who has seen all kinds of issues affect the town he has called home for his entire life, those sandwiches and the festival as a whole strike a deeper meaning.

“What Egg Day stands for, that’s something that will never change,” Allen said. “The sandwiches will never change.”