Bill and Irene Heinzelman
mentioned several times how much they enjoyed the dinner at St. Michael. They
are very nice people who once lived on our street and their son Mark played with
our son David when they were boys. They have since moved to Hidden Valley (Bill was the person
who introduced me to chicken dinners about ten years ago.)
We had hardly gone to any
dinners this year and then we decided to go to St. Michael, which would make it
two dinners in two days (last night we went to Macedonia Christian.) We exited
off I-75 at the Brookville exit and headed down the road, which follows the
railroad tracks and the Whitewater River. There are a number of Morgan Canoe
rental locations near the river. We passed the Mounds Restaurant along the way
(it’s been an endpoint for chicken dinners for quite some time – I think that
Mom and Dad went there 50 years ago.) After driving about 20 minutes we could
see the steeple rising above the small hill where Brookville is located.
A helper directed us into a
good parking spot in the lawn area. We headed to the school and it looked like
there had been some recent construction as we walked over a new blacktop
driveway. There was only a short wait and we paid $16 for the two of us. Our
admission tickets allowed us to fill out a stub for a $200 drawing (I later
forgot to turn in the chances.) The hall looked like a brand new gym, you could
smell the newness. Before we were seated, we had to choose a dessert. I thought
the man who was going to seat us showed a little impatience with my partner who
had a hard time making her choice. There were lots of things made with fruit, and
good looking custard and pumpkin pies, all of them generous slices.
We sat at a long table and
they started serving duplicate bowls of food from each end. It gets a little
confusing as some platters and bowls overlap, but that’s what “family style” is
all about. I was still passing things when I heard Edith say mmmnn after trying
a leg. It was very good chicken; the seasonings were exceptional and the pieces
were nice and crunchy. It’s hard to estimate, but I think this could be the best
slaw I’ve ever had. It was on the sweet side with a hint of onion and also nice
and crunchy. (I’m writing these notes Sunday evening at about 9 and I wish that
I had a bowl of it right now.) The lady on my left was a member of St. Michael
and said that the recipe is a guarded secret.
There were two couples on
my right who were renewing their acquaintances. One was from Batesville who
reminded me that their dinner is next Sunday. When Edith heard that St. Louis in
Batesville had the school air conditioning installed this year, she let us all know how hot
her computer lab can get (I’m ready to install the AC myself if it will calm her
down a little.) The other was from Morris, just down the road from Batesville.
She said that Morris started their Labor Day dinner a little earlier this year
to help with the crowds (it was really backed up two years ago.) She said that
people were lined up at 9 a.m. even though it wasn’t supposed to start until 10.
It was interesting to hear
about their children. A lot of them were accountants and CPA’s. One of them
lived in Paris France and Mom had visited them five times so far. The Brookville people had a
daughter in medical school and they talked about a couple of the kids coming
back to Batesville after graduation to work at Hillenbrand. They were
interested to know where we lived in Cincinnati since they had brothers
and sisters up here. We sure meet some solid people at the dinners.
Edith is on the Adkins diet
and has done very good. I lost about 25 pounds on my “modified” Adkins diet and
watch what I eat. The dessert had some serious carbs but it was well worth it.
Mine was berry pie and Edith had Apple crisp with brown sugar and plenty nuts.
Wish I had some right now.
I’m not sure, but this may be our last dinner of the year. If so, it will be a perfect ending.