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The Day the
Catholics Almost Killed the Methodists
The
infamous chicken dinner of Sacred Heart parish which “nearly killed”
those partaking of it took place on
St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1929, and is believed to have been served in
the Edwards Grange Hall.
The
event was scheduled to be held on a Sunday.
At that time the Methodist church had a fiery, young minister and
when he learned the dinner was to be on a Sunday, he forbade his
parishioners to attend.
Of
course, this didn’t set well with a number of Methodists – to have the
young minister tell them what they could and could not do - so they went
anyway!
In
1929 refrigeration was not the refrigeration of the 21st
century, but was the ice box or a cool cellar.
Apparently the chickens were cooked many hours before, cooled and
reheated at the time of the dinner on Sunday.
This method, although the dinner was delicious, allowed bacteria to
grow causing a number of the diners to become violently ill with food
poisoning and affected some of them even through Monday.
As
had to be, the Methodists were among those taken sick.
This included the postmistress, Mrs. May Ferry, who, although she
managed to go to work the next day, had to
leave her post a number of times on Monday for emergency purposes!
Story
as told on 2 Aug 1997 to LaVerne H. Freeman by Katheryn Freeman Fuller,
who remembered the incident.
The
correct date from Velma Hall’s diary, property of Edwards History Center.
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