I remember from 1991 to 1993, when the Chicago Bulls won three straight NBA Championship titles. The achievement was called the Three Peat.
The same name could apply to the series of three chicken noodle dinners that Dan Haymond and I consumed joyfully between Columbus Day on Monday, Oct. 9 and Wednesday, Oct. 18.
It would have been a Four Peat if we could have went to the Christian Church in Boone, but meetings at the Perry First United Methodist Church competed with this event and won. The soul rules the gut sometimes.
We ate our Columbus Day chicken and noodles in Bagley, a town of just over 300 people. It was founded in 1881, when the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad was built through the area. Former NFL player Jordan Carstens came from Bagley.
I have attended the Bagley United Methodist Church’s annual Columbus Day chicken noodle dinner for many years. It is one of the highlights of the fall season.
The venue attracts many people from the area and is held in the basement of the church. The dinner has an old-fashioned feel and reminds me much of the church that I grew up in.
Funds are used for various missions and upkeep of the church, organizers tell me.
The next evening, which was a Tuesday, we headed to Redfield for another meal. By the way, Redfield was named for an early settler, Lt. Col. James Redfield, who bought the town previously named New Ireland.
The Redfield Development chicken noodle dinner which was held at the Redfield American Legion Hall. The dinner was held to raise funds for community improvements in Redfield, the legionnaires said.
Finally, on Wednesday of this week, we headed to the next chicken noodle dinner held at the Guthrie Center Immanuel Lutheran Church in Guthrie Center. We found out about this dinner by accident when we were looking for another dinner the Sunday before. Our joy in adding another church dinner to our list was inexpressible, like prayers answered.
Fortunately, there was also beef and noodles offered in Guthrie Center. Dan and I tried both the chicken and noodles and the beef and noodles, and both were very delicious.
We also had the pleasure of sitting across from two ladies from the area. They gave us the lowdown on the goings on in the area, including the background of this dinner and other area dinners.
One of the ladies also told us a treatment for gout. One should supposedly eat nine canned cherries every day and drink the leftover juice on Sunday, the Guthrie center church lady told us.
As indicated, a majority of these dinners serve chicken and noodles, yet every place makes them a little different, and one never tires of eating them.
There are still many more dinner adventures to come.
