Fundraisers 2012

For as long as I can remember fundraisers have been around – and they still are.   When I was growing up there were few occasions for people to get together so fundraisers were well attended.  Back then there were such things as Fiddlers Conventions, Popularity contests ,  and such.  I was in the popularity contest one year when I was in elementary school and a vote cost a penny.  What it amounted to was each entrant asks friends and family for money, which counted as votes.  Of course, there was such a little money to be had back then the contest amounted to very little.  Needless to say, I did not win.

Box suppers were a big thing back then, too.  Each lady would pack a meal in a box and take it to the school (or church) and on a given night men would bid on the boxes and whoever bid the most got the box and got to eat with the lady who had packed it.  This also was a good way for sweethearts to get to spend some time together.

Another biggie was cake walks.  Usually at this kind of thing there was music and maybe some other type of entertainment, too, but cake walks drew a lot of people. Many cakes would have been donated – chocolate, coconut, pound and other kinds.  Sometimes a plate of fried apple pies would be the item for a walk.  As I remember it, the master of ceremonies announced just which cake was to be walked for and a certain chair was marked.  There would be a circle of chairs, much like musical chairs, and when the music stopped the walkers sat and whoever had set down in the marked chair won that cake.  My sister-in-law won a beautiful quilt in such a walk – I believe the place was at Tenbroeck School and in the 1930’s.  It seems the cake walks cost a dime a walk, but for such as quilts I’m sure it was more.

This next Saturday,  November 5, there will be different kind of fundraiser in Geraldine – sponsored by the Geraldine chapters of Masonic Order and Eastern Star, two groups known for helping widows, orphans and the needy.  It’s a soup dinner where there will be various kinds of soup, cornbread (or crackers) and a dessert with a drink.  It’s to be in the old section of Geraldine at the Lodge Hall on Hwy. 227. The price for this one is $5 and part of the money is to be donated to Crossville and Geraldine schools to help pay for lunches for children who cannot afford to eat.   We feel this is a very worthwhile fundraiser and the Crumly contribution is a pot of vegetable soup – made from our homegrown vegetables.  Serving begins at 11:00 a.m. and goes ‘til the food runs out.  Please come eat and at the same time help with the feeding of needy children.  Here you can get a taste of country living.