Saturday, August 10th, 2024
Hopewell Grange meals a longtime fair favorite
By Abigail Miller
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
It takes a group of volunteers about three days to make 150 pounds of Hopewell Grange's infamous homemade noodles.
CELINA- At a county fair with food options galore, not many vendors standout like the Hopewell Grange and their longtime favorite homemade noodles.
Granges are family, community organizations with roots in agriculture, per the National Grange website. Founded in 1867, the Grange was formed as a national organization with a local focus. Members are given the opportunity to learn and grow to their full potential as citizens and leaders.
The first grange in Hopewell Township began in 1874, when a dispensation was granted to residents to organize and hold a subordinate grange in town, according to "Mercer County Ohio History 1978," by local historian Joyce Alig.
It's unknown how long the first Hopewell Grange No. 623 was active. But in 1941, Hopewell Grange No. 2688 was established.
The grange signed a 99-year lease with the county fairgrounds in 1955, and moved from the township trustees home to a plot across from the grandstands at the fair.
The grange is involved in a plethora of local projects, and rents its building at the fairgrounds out to the community for a variety of events all-year-long for $150, Grange Master Larry Fennig said.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Grange members used to start their fair days out with serving breakfast, but now they open from 11 a.m. -6:30 p.m. for lunch and dinner every day.
The grange donates their hall for the Mercer County D.A.R.E quarter auction every year, and sells food during the event. As well as donates $200 to every third grade class in the county every year to benefit their libraries. Members meet twice a month.
Grange members used to start their fair days out with serving breakfast, but now they open from 11 a.m. -6:30 p.m. for lunch and dinner every day.
The menu varies a little from day to day, but the basics are always the same: a choice of meats, potatoes, gravy, noodles, vegetable, salad and dessert with a canned soda or gatorade.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Hopewell Grange serves lots of pie.
Their infamous noodles are made in advance. It takes the group of volunteers about three days to make 150 pounds in preparation for the fair.
Long time member Dorothy Springer said the noodle recipe is very simple.
"For every six eggs it takes almost 21/2 cups of flour," she said of the noodle recipe. "And then we add just like an 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of water. So it's very simple. It's very, very simple. But, it's the working it with your hands that makes a difference."
Fennig added that they usually have anywhere from 12-15 people that help make the noodles.
"And out of 12 to 15 people, over half of them are volunteers," he said. "They're not (just) grange members. In fact the flower club, in the last several years they've been helping us during the fair."
Fennig has been a grange member since the 1970s when a friend encouraged him to join. He became the master when he retired over a decade ago, and was previously the master for a short period when he was in his late 20's.
In addition to fellowship and service, the Hopewell Grange has worked alongside Unity Grange, also of Mercer County, and the Ohio State Grange on state legislation related to rural Ohioans and farmers.
Some of the legislative objectives the state grange works on include agricultural education and preservation of farmland; trying to reduce costs of pharmaceuticals and medical procedures; the control of e-cigarettes and vaping products; and improving communications in the rural areas by promoting rural broadband and telephone, per the Ohio State Grange website.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
The Hopewell Grange menu varies a little from day to day, but the basics are always the same: a choice of meats, potatoes, gravy, noodles, vegetable, salad and dessert with a canned soda or Gatorade.
The Hopewell Grange participated in lobbying legislation for years, however Fennig said recently they haven't had the time or manpower to do so.
"You go down the highway and those signs that say 'litter picked up by such and such,'" Fennig said. "The grange did that years ago. That's one thing I can tell you, the grange implemented. Of course it had to pass our state (legislation). … We used to clean up 2 miles and we done that for probably 10, 15 years and (with) people getting older, we couldn't do it anymore."
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Grange member Arlene Crumpler cleans dishes at the grange during the Mercer County Fair.
At one point in the 70's, there were about 120 Hopewell Grange members, per "Mercer County Ohio History 1978." At present, Fennig said there are around 12-15 members.
Although membership greatly slowed in the last 10-15 years, with the grange gaining no new members, Fennig said they gained four new members in recent years.
Springer said her favorite thing about the grange is the friendship.
"(I enjoy) The camaraderie, the people," she said. "That's all good."
