A Different Kind of Dinner
“Shrimp boil” is a popular, communal Southern meal featuring fresh shrimp, smoked sausage, corn on the cob, and potatoes cooked together in a large pot of seasoned broth.
Sometimes referred to as a "Louisiana Shrimp Boil" the food is traditionally spread out on a newspaper-lined picnic table and enjoyed with one's hands.
Loretto, MN, isn’t the first place I would guess for the hottest shrimp boil in town, but then I had the opportunity to talk to Jack Mertes (former camper, staff member, and board member).
Jack was a YMCA Camp Ihduhapi camper in 1967, continued each summer, eventually became a counselor, and then, in 1978, “the best job in camp- trip director.” When he graduated from college, he took a job with Nestle and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. He described that experience “like moving to the moon”. During the five years he lived there, he fell in love with the culture and the food. He was surprised to see that “no one had a barbecue like at home, but everyone had a big pot to boil crawfish or shrimp.”
When he returned to Minnesota, he joined the Ihduhapi board of directors. During one of his first meetings, the conversation was, “What can we do for the staff?” The answer- shrimp boil.
Since that first summer in 1989, Jack has hosted an annual shrimp boil for the staff.
On Friday, June 5, after a long, hot day of training, the day and overnight camp staff, as well as several alumni, gathered together at the waterfront. Jack welcomed the group, explaining, “This is a different kind of dinner, for what is going to be a different kind of summer.”
Dinner began with four very large pans of jambalaya, a classic Louisiana one-pot dish of rice, vegetables, and meat or seafood. Jack’s jambalaya boasted 15 pounds of sausage per pan (except for the vegetarian pan, which included black beans) and came in mild, medium, and spicy.
While the staff was enjoying the jambalaya, Jack was busy adding more and more to the enormous boiling pot he was stirring with a canoe paddle. First in were so many spices that the water was bright orange and searingly aromatic. Potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery are boiled for quite a long time. When everything was almost done, he added green beans and frozen corn on the cob (to slow the boil) and finally, many, many pounds of shrimp.
It took about 5 minutes for the shrimp to turn pink, at which point, the massive colander was pulled out of the pot, leaving behind the pungent broth that had infused everything with rich Cajun flavors while cooking. The long table was lined with paper where the pot of food was dumped directly onto, and everyone gathered around to share beautiful bites of soft potato, snappy green beans, and shrimp that left your lips feeling fiery long after the meal was complete.
Alumni reminisced about past shrimp boils and their favorite memories from their years on staff. The 2026 staff huddled in small groups, laughing, talking, and getting to know each other.
A different kind of meal for a different kind of summer.
At the end of Jack’s welcome speech, he urged the new staff to lean on each other and then let them know “once you’re on the staff, you’re part of this club forever.” He continued, saying, “I’d gladly trade places with any of you,” while all of the alumni nodded in agreement.
I felt privileged to be a guest at this very special event. What a way to kick off the summer and welcome the Ihduhapi staff into the community. The dinner has spanned 36 years, an impressive tradition, but as Ihduhapi goes into its 96th summer, the staff become part of something that has been touching lives for nearly a century.