It was another beautiful day with blue skies and a few puffy clouds. Our street was quiet following last night’s street party (we were one of the first to leave at 11 p.m.) We headed out I-74 and exited at the Sunman exit. The land is mainly flat as we headed towards Sunman and the farm fields look good this year. Everything looks good along this road, the farms, houses, school, and companies. There are a few large greenhouses along the way that I believe produce wholesale plants for the cities.
I followed the directions from my Web page and found the church after about a 10 mile drive (I updated these after getting lost on my last trip.) We found the church as I remembered from the last time, in the middle of the farm fields. When we entered church, I saw that it was built in 1852. It was very comfortable inside and the pews were 80% filled (today's dinner probably added a few church-goers.) The priest was a gray-haired man who gave a nice homily and showed patience with the servers. He thanked them after mass and said that the regular helpers were busy this morning getting ready for the “picnic.”
It was now a little after 11 and the hall was mainly filled with diners. I paid $16 for the two of us and we were seated after a short wait. The article by Chuck Martin that listed St. Pius’ dinner as the top pick of the “Chicken Man” was taped to the door. When we were being seated I saw Chuck Martin sitting at one of the tables and he was halfway through his dinner. Edith and I were the first seated at a cleared table and sat across from each other. The food bowls started to arrive shortly. This included mashed potatoes, creamy white gravy, green beans, a big bowl of sliced tomatoes, coleslaw and dinner rolls.
The servers brought each person a plate with a deep-fried half chicken – this is a lot of chicken. The chicken tasted very good and was nice and moist. The skin was soft so it had been held for a little while; it’s difficult to have enough chicken on hand for serving and yet have it come to the table hot and crispy from the fryer. I think that Edith saw some gizzards being cooked in the kitchen, but they didn’t make it to our table, but that’s okay – we had plenty of food. Our servers were mainly young girls and I have to say they were as pretty as I’ve seen at any dinner.
The lady who sat next to us was Judy C. and her grandson Nick sat across from her. She is a young-looking grandma and Nick is a handsome 12 year-old. They said grace before their meal. He has a child’s ticket and got a quarter chicken. She lives close by at Moore’s Hill and is a transplant from St. Al’s parish on Bridgetown Road. She worked at Children’s Hospital earlier and her husband still commutes to his job at Fernald. He likes to garden and do woodworking, so they got a place in the country with five acres. Judy said that it was one of the best decisions they ever made.
I pretty much finished my chicken and enjoyed a second helping of coleslaw. Slaw at these dinners varies widely and this was milky, slightly sweet with very little bite. I can’t think of a slaw at these dinners that I didn’t like and this was no exception. But overall, the chicken is the highlight. Edith took the (last) German chocolate cake slice and I had spice cake (it looks like they don’t have pie.) I felt contented as I walked out the back door.
There was a sign pointing to the turtle soup stand but I couldn’t find Edith. Then I saw her come out of a small wooden shed next to the chicken preparation area. I had referenced Jerry Volz on the web site as the contact person and she tracked him down. It turns out that he’s the treasurer and was busy counting money. The lady with him told me that his relatives had built the church in the 1850’s. One thing led to another and I soon was talking to John and Mick at the cooking tent. Mick’s wife was one of the ladies preparing the chicken. The half chickens are dipped in liquid and seasoned flour is sifted onto them and then they are dipped and floured the second time. They hoped to sell 900 dinners today (the hall holds about 150 diners.)
John said that the half chickens are ordered specially and they always worry about not selling enough dinners (the parishioners distribute them among themselves if there are leftovers.) He also said that the people of the parish live within three miles of the church and that they never had a permanent priest since the 1850’s. Their parish priest is always one who travels among several churches in the region. In recent years, all of the assigned priests have been retired. I’m always impressed with the solid, decent people at these churches.
When driving home, I had to ask myself why I picked St. Pius as my favorite dinner. First I have to say that I don’t go to these dinners simply to have some good food on a Sunday afternoon – I could do that in Cincinnati at some commercial restaurant. I go for a lot of reasons. And being with good people, the ones who dine here and the ones who volunteer here is one of the main reasons. There are dinners with greater variety and more fresh vegetables where I might enjoy the food a little more. But I feel good here at St. Pius, located in the middle of farm country and made up of loyal parishioners. Many of these parishioners have come from generations of family who lived off this good land and, judging from the cemetery, came to this country as immigrants. I feel a strong connection when I come here.
I’m writing these notes Sunday evening and the Olympics are on TV. There are swimmers, gymnasts and girl volleyball players. Edith wonders how these girls are able to play so hard in their skimpy suits. Ah, to have a young body – that was soooo long ago!