Dinner on the Grounds
They are as common as the steeples on the churches that they accompany. All across the southland in the backyard of almost every church, you will find the center piece of food and fellowship, the “Dinner on the Grounds” table. This practice transcends all denominational and political lines. Often the tables seat more folks than the meeting room inside the church. I guess folks like pie more than preaching!
I was the special guest at a church Homecoming and Dinner on the Grounds where I saw something occur that I had never seen before or since. After the Pastor said grace, I was put to the front of the line to fill my plate. That was not going to be a problem. The table stretched out for sixty feet I reckon and it was packed with food. Not just food, but good old down home southern food that painted a picture fit for the cover of any cooking magazine. Paula Dean would have been proud. And from the looks of the old wooden table it wasn’t the first meal that it had held. Glory, it was going to be an antacid night!
It didn’t take long to fill my chinette plate. Then, a gentleman behind me asked me an unusual question,
“Where’s your pocket knife?”
“Well, right here in my pocket,” I answered, “My wife frowns on me taking it out in public when there is food involved”.
“Naw, man. You don’t eat with it. You stick it up in the table where you stopped filling your plate and then when you come back for seconds, you’ll know where to start from,” he instructed.
Are you kidding, man that is awesome. I began to notice the table filling up with pocket knives marking the spots of round one. And these were not just any old pocket knives, but trading quality knives. Once the meal ended, then the trading began. What a tradition.
I guess that it is good to come back every once in a while to where we have come from. It gives perspective that is easy to lose in today’s world. As far as the knife thing, I did it one more time at an all you can eat seafood buffet, but the manager brought me my knife and asked me to leave.
Leave a comment about your “Dinner on the Grounds” or back to the old home place experiences …..
Joey Hancock
Copy write 2009
Great story Joey. Too many traditions get lost. Now, where did I leave that knife?
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Dinner on the grounds.....two memories, both of my grandmother's churches:
1st Grandma lived 30 minutes away, so we would go to our church and then drive to hers, guaranteeing that all the "good stuff" would be gone, leaving us with 4 green bean casseroles, dried up fried chicken wings and no desserts. My GG would always save me a chicken leg and a deviled egg. Yep, Baptists eat DEVILED eggs.........
2nd Grandma lived far enough away that we would get to spend the night...and since my mom had 6 brothers and sisters, anytime we'd get together with them, it was ALAWYS dinner on grounds, on the porch, under the tree, and in the living room on a tv tray (a sure sign of maturity). She always made mac n cheese, which she called macaroni pie, with big ole hunks of cheese in there......my cousins and I would dig way down to get the cheese and leave the macaroni for everyone else.....When we would actually go to a family reunion, (the second manifestation of a dinner on the grounds), we would be standing by the mac n cheese section on the tables, waiting to dig in to hers.....only to be shooed to the back of the line by our moms.....sigh.......
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Joey this is good i am sending it to one of my friends that i gave one of your books, he is a knife collector and will appreciate this.
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