Doubleheader dinners announce joys of autumn

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Saturday Sept. 22 was a doubleheader day for Dan and I. We had found out that the Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Granger was having an evening meal, and we recalled that Washington Township School was having a meal on the same night.

Being loyal United Methodists, we did not want to miss an opportunity to support a brother church. Being Perry-area supporters, we did not want to miss an opportunity to support this great organization as well. What to do? The obvious solution was to attend both.

Granger started earlier, and Washington Township went later. We were doubly blessed.

I drove this time. We headed out around 4:30 p.m. Saturday to get to Granger. They were having a dinner. They are a hard church to figure out for dinners. They have no regular cycle for them. They just had another one the month before.

The Emmanuel United Methodist Church dinner was hosted this time by the United Methodist Women at the church. Monies raised, as for most churches, was for projects of the United Methodist Women. They usually support many missions across the world. The menu was ham balls, cheesy potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, dinner roll, a choice of desserts and several beverages.

This dinner was delicious, and we ate our fill, being cautious to save room for Washington Township. The Granger Women’s club was also running a fundraiser. I bought some chocolate-covered peanuts, and I think that Dan bought some pecans. They assured me they would deliver them to my work place in Polk City.

Next we drove onward to Washington Township School. They now have class pictures posted around the cafeteria. I know Verna Boyer, who graduated from there, and Dan said Tom Gardiner graduated from there also. We found his photograph. He does not look that much different today.

The menu they served was pork loin, green beans, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese — because they ran out of cheesy potatoes — dessert bars and beverage. This is an annual dinner, and funds are used to keep up the building, which must be an enormous cost. I heard that they are having a soup dinner this coming January.

Washington Township school looks very much like the former Lincoln Elementary School in Vinton, Iowa, were I attended fifth and sixth grades. They both were built around the same time and have a very similar design. Both of my grandmothers graduated from Lincoln in the 1920s and ’30s, when it was the high school in Vinton.

Although not too hungry, I ate what I took. I also had the opportunity to visit with someone that I had not seen for a while. Dinner season is now upon us, with a lot of dinners starting in October up to the middle of November. Look out for more reports.