GERMANIA – A tradition dating back to the pioneer days was
observed again in Potter County over the weekend.

More than 700 people converged on the tiny community of Germania
for Saturday afternoon’s annual Germania Fire Company Leek
Smorgasbord.

Leeks, those wild onions that grow in the damp spring forests on
the surrounding hillsides, were dug and prepared throughout the
weeks by members of Potter County’s oldest fire company. They were
served, cooked and raw, with all of the fixings to a crowd that was
about half locals and half downstaters who have seasonal homes in
the Germania area.

“I never miss this,” said long-time Coudersport resident Bob
Morey as he crunched a raw leek while approaching the buffet table
for second helpings. “It’s definitely worth the 60-mile round
trip.”

“We feel right at home at Germania,” said Bob Heinz, who made
the trek from Landesburg in Chester County. “This is a town where,
as the saying goes, ‘you’re only a stranger once,’ and my wife and
I hope to move here after we retire.”

Beyond the good food and good will was a sizeable profit for the
Germania Fire Department.

“Volunteer labor – that’s how we do it,” said Russ Keith, 83,
who moved to Germania from downstate more than 30 years ago and is
seen by most townspeople as the community’s unofficial mayor and
good will ambassador.

Germania is the biggest town in rural Abbott Township, where the
deer herd easily outnumbers the population of roughly 300.

The village was founded in the early 1850s by four German men
who sought to establish a community for political refugees. Unlike
most towns in the region, Germania started as a planned residential
development, with each residential lot accompanied by a 25-acre
farm parcel.

Artists, craftsmen, woodworkers, carpenters and skilled
brewmasters were among the early settlers who helped build the town
into an important commercial and social center.

German families harvested leek each spring and served them
during community festivals held on Sunday afternoons each spring.
That tradition has continued ever since, sponsored by Germania Fire
Co. The organization dates back to 1859, making it Potter County’s
oldest firefighting organization.