Every year about this time, the church picnics begin. Every weekend there’s one, and for decades the prime drawing card (and money-maker) was the same: Turtle Soup.

Farmer Gary loves Turtle Soup. When I found a family recipe the other day, it got him to telling stories. Not just about the soup. About the man. Johnny Lange.

The Turtle Man:

Johnny Lange (pronounced “LONG-ee” … Gary would never forgive me if I didn’t add that Johnny had a brother whose nickname was “Shortie”) got his picture on the front page of the paper in 1962.

Johnny’s 1997 obituary did not mention turtles. And I shamefully admit to checking his tombstone – again, no turtles.

But The Ferdinand News came through for us: A poem!

But what about our family Turtle Soup recipe?

Gary’s got the details:

The grandma that Gary referred to was on his dad’s side: Emma Wigger Werne (she of the Tuberculosis House story).

Emma’s Turtle Soup recipe, below, is handwritten by Gary’s aunt Marie, the youngest of George and Emma’s eight children:

How’s this for a bit of Turtle Soup Trivia? Local boy Abraham Lincoln put Turtle Soup on the menu whenever he could while president. It may well have been the last meal he ate.

With the advent of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, turtles could no longer be harvested without restraint. Now a license is required, plus regulations limit the number of turtles you can “bag.”

Despite turtle soup becoming a more difficult delicacy to come by, it remains worth the hunt. Because for Gary, “It’s probably about the best damn soup out there.”

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“A Tribute to Johnny Lange, The Great Turtler” ©1997 Pat Backer. All rights reserved.

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