It was a busy morning. We babysat our grandson Luke last night and returned him to his parents at Eastgate, dropped of my Subaru for service at Beechmont, got back on I-275 then to I-74 got off at The St. Leon exit, passed St John’s at Dover and turned right on N. Dearborn Rd. It was up and down some hills and in about five minutes I could see the traffic at St. Paul Church. It was about 11:30 EDT.
There was a line alongside the hall extending well into the front of school. We stood in the shade during most of our wait since they have an awning all along the side of the building. It was another one of those unusually cool days we have been experiencing this summer. The line moved fast and we were inside the hall before noon. I don’t know if we were part of the first seating but these parishioners know how to move people through the system. It seems that they have plenty of helping hands, from both kids and parents (St. Paul teaches school and serves five local churches.) By the way, access to the hall is good as there are no steps, but I don't know if they have special handicap parking.
Edith and I were seated across from each other at the end of a long table probably seating 16. The gymnasium is large and there are exhaust fans to keep things comfortable; again, there was no problem with heat on such a beautiful day. The food was already moving on the table since we were the last to be seated. There were many dishes and I don’t think I even tried the corn.
But I quickly spotted the dressing and was determined to not let it get past me. Chuck Martin wrote about it in his Enquirer article a few years ago and had a nice story about Tillie Hoffbauer, the lady in charge of making it. I put a little gravy (very good gravy by the way) on mine and it really is special. It almost seems irreverent for me to say it, but it’s better than my Mom’s dressing. A fresh plate of chicken was placed at our end of the table and I took two thighs – my lucky day. The chicken was very good, juicy and hot too.
The lady across from me asked if the chicken was fried in lard. I didn’t know and asked if she was from the area. No, she was visiting from Arizona and insisted that a 100-degree day at her house was pleasant if there was a breeze since it was a “dry heat.” She had a hard time selling this idea at our end of the table. But there was absolute agreement on the chicken, very good.
I had a couple helpings of coleslaw, it had a hint of bacon in it. My eating companion also gave it a big thumbs-up. There were no pies on the dessert tray but I liked my chocolate-cake-chocolate-icing choice (this baker’s-son never tires of home-made baked goods.) A small boy politely asked if I was finished and cleared some of the plates and I saw that our table was being reset at the other end. It’s important to keep things moving since there are a lot of people waiting to enter the hall.
The man next to me was from the Northgate area and has two brothers who live in Indiana, one in Sunman and the other in Milan. Pete S. lives on Old Colerain very close to the winery, the place where you cook your own steaks (we went there last year.) He said that he can see “Mt. Rumpke” from his place. He and his wife were in their 50’s and nice and trim, and it sounds like they go to more church dinners we do. See! Liking these dinners doesn’t mean that you wind up being overweight. But if I ate this much dressing every day my tailor would be “Otto the Tent Maker!”
I took a few pictures of the hall when leaving (that I’ll add to my Web site some day) and looked into the kitchen. Edith asked if Tillie Hoffbauer was there since we had read about her in the Enquirer. She was working at the food table and had both gloved hands in a large bowl (I think she was making coleslaw.) It turns out that the lady who pointed Tillie out was her daughter, a very friendly lady.
We talked a little about the Enquirer article and the daughter said they really enjoyed being with Chuck Martin during his interview but said that he hadn’t called this year. We also talked about the “Chicken Man” article and, with a twinkle in her eye, she said: “so you think that St. Pius has the best dinner?” With my usual stumble and stammer, I told her that it was really St. Pius’ setting that made it special in my mind, being in the middle of all those corn and soy-bean fields. Tillie's daughter also said that they recently talked about their history and thought that this summer dinner may have been going on for 100 years. I do know that people come back each year as a reunion of sorts.
I checked my raffle tickets when I left the hall. Nope, I didn’t win a ham or the $200 prize but I saw that my number was listed at the mixed raffle. I picked a 12-pack cooler as my prize. The church was open and I took a few pictures. It was nice inside and, like many churches in the area, was painted in pastels. I also walked through the cemetery past some of the original church members gravesites. Most had German-sounding names with dates in the mid-to-late 1800’s.
I bought a quart of mock turtle soup for $3.50 and Edith bought a cookbook (it had the slaw and dressing recipes that we enjoyed at the dinner along with many others.) We headed for the car and pulled out of the parking lot at about 1 p.m. EDT. The line for the dinner had now extended around the school building to the church – this probably would be at least a one-hour wait. St. Aloysius in Shandon was also having their dinner today and they also always have a good crowd. We retraced our steps heading back out N. Dearborn Road. Only a mile or so away is Chateau Pomije with vineyards fronting the road (the sign advertised their Sunday brunch for $12.95.) We headed to a birthday party for my nephew near Lunken Airport – there was lots of driving today but well worth it.