Adams School District - Hot Lunch
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In the earliest days of schooling, both town and country school pupils carried their lunches in syrup pails, paper sacks or some other type of homemade dinner pail. Probably some of the town children did run home to eat. Many times the sandwiches in those pails were frozen by the time lunch time came around.
Hot soup in the winter time came about 1916. At first children, who came from dairy farms, took turns in bringing a quantity of milk to school in the morning. A Miss Enge, who taught Home Ec., and her cooking class made a hot soup, served in enamel cups belonging to the school. After moving into the new school in 1917, the milk was evidently purchased and the Home Ec. class prepared the hot lunch during the winter months - corn soup, pea soup, tomato soup, potato soup, cream soup with dried beef and cocoa were the most popular. It was a treat to get something hot to eat with sandwiches. Occasionally, we would get a whiff of scorched soup. Not too many customers those days. Students brought their own cups by then. Children haven't changed - we would hear, "I don't like potato soup," or, "I can't stand some other kind of soup." Barbara Heimer was hired as school cook in 1944 at 65 cents an hour. Full meals were served, maybe a soup and sandwich, or potatoes and meat, etc. The cooks were still using the Home Ed. room. This proved to be a very unsatisfactory arrangement. In the fall of 1948, a temporary kitchen was made in a small underground room located one flight down towards the janitor's room. High school boys helped during the noon hour to carry heavy kettles and dishes up to the main floor for serving on long tables set up in the hall. Gertrude Adams was Mrs. Heimer's first assistant. On January 1, 1948, Pauline Smith was hired as the assistant. The new elementary-high school addition included a new modern kitchen and cafeteria. Clara Watros and Amber Walker were in charge of that for several years. This room also served as an all-purpose room. Cooks: Barbara Heimer, 1944-1950 Gertrude Adams, 1945-1946 Pauline Smith, 1947-1950 Amber Walker, 1950-1965 Clara Watros, 1950-1968 Gertrude Schomberg, 1960-1967 Lora Kent, 1965-1970 Mae Schechinger, 1969-1978 Mae Boe, 1969-1971 Harriet Lewison, 1970-1975 Bonnie May, 1970- Marietta Braun, 1970-1972 Evelyn Lange, 1973- |