 |
About a week ago, Eddie Trull sent me the picture of the “lunchroom” ladies, and it brought back so many memories of how these ladies influenced our lives. Several days later, we were talking about going to school in the two-story brick elementary building, and the highlight of our day was going to lunch. The building sat at the back of the playground lot under the pines, and when we were turned out for recess, it was torture smelling the food our lunchroom ladies were cooking.
All the meals were made from scratch, there were no “corn dog nuggets” or frozen chicken nuggets, or pizza. They baked large trays of chicken and pork chops, and made their own meatloaf, which would absolutely melt your tastebuds it was so good. All the food smelled good cooking, but the aroma of the meatloaf was unbearable to those of us salivating on the playground.
The lunchroom also served the high school, until the new cafeteria was built. I remember seeing the new equipment at the high school cafeteria and could not believe the size of the mixer. It sat on the floor and was about three or four foot high. The mixing bowl was so large that a student could sit down in it.
Miss Ruth Palmer would go into work before daylight and peel enough potatoes to make real mashed potatoes that would melt in your mouth. They always had just enough salt and butter to make them perfect.
They also made fresh biscuits, cornbread, and the light and fluffy yeast rolls were legendary. And we cannot forget the variety of huge sheet cakes with creamy frosting for desserts.
The ladies were not concerned with serving small portions, if you wanted more food, they would spoon it out, and the big rough and tough boys always got supersized helpings. If you wanted two biscuits you got it, because they were there to feed the children, and they fed them well.
I am not a morning person and am usually a little sick at my stomach for an hour or two. I remember when I was in high school I went to the cafeteria to see Mrs. Blanche Wyke, who was over the lunchroom. I asked her if she could give me a slice of tomato with salt on it to relieve my sick stomach, and of course, she did. She told me to come back any morning that I needed to, and I have never forgotten her kindness.
Many years later, when my daughter was in kindergarten, she cried every morning for months when I left her at her classroom door. In an effort, to get
her to stop crying, her punishment was that she had to sit at a table alone in the cafeteria facing the wall, which of course made her cry again. I did not know this had happened until many years later.
The person who came to her rescue was a lunchroom lady, whose name was Mrs. Kephart. She would bring her lunch over to that table and sit down with my daughter so she would have company during mealtime. I never got to tell this lady how much that meant to me, and my daughter has never forgotten the compassion she had for a little girl who just wanted to stay with her grandpa.
Every person who works at the school, regardless of their job or position, plays an important part in the lives of our children.
Kandy Barnard is a columnist for the Cherokee Scout. To talk about the Andrews Valley, call her at 828-361-3268 or email kandybarnard@gmail.com.