James Rada, Jr.
When the Trinity United Church of Christ of Thurmont hit financial hard times about thirty-five years ago, Treasurer Russ Delauter thought the church might have to sell off kitchen equipment to pay the bills. Then he realized that while that might help the immediate problem, it wouldn’t address the ongoing shortfalls.
So, he started baking and cooking soups, pies, and cakes, and selling them. Sue Clabaugh joined him about a year later, and then Mary Jane “Tootie” Lenhart after another year.
“Things really took off when she started helping,” Delauter said. “She got things organized and started contacting people about buying.”
Word of mouth spread about the tasty dishes, such as slippery pot pie, Maryland crab soup, and custard pie, coming out of the church’s kitchen. People started placing orders and so did businesses who wanted to sell home-baked pies to their customers. Some came from as far away as Gaithersburg, according to Delauter.
“Things started out slow, but once we got rolling and word of mouth spread, lots of people started coming in,” Lenhart said.
This was probably a good thing since both Lenhart and Delauter were working full-time when this project started. They had to fit cooking in before and after their jobs. Now retired and in their eighties, both of them will still spend around six hours a day in the kitchen preparing food.
Last year, the kitchen sold about $150,000 in products. Once the cost of the ingredients was deducted, they not only had money to help Trinity, but they assisted five other churches in their fundraising efforts.
For their efforts in establishing the kitchen and getting it running so that it helps support not only Trinity United Church of Christ, but also the community, the Thurmont Lions Club recently awarded Lenhart and Delauter its highest honor: the Melvin Jones Fellow Award.
“I was honored to receive the award,” Delauter said, “but we didn’t do it alone. We had a lot of help.”
Delauter usually opens the kitchen around 4:30 a.m., six days a week, and is soon joined by the other volunteers. Sue Clabaugh, Ziggy Leonhardt, Patty Grossnickle, Nancy Dutterer, and Joann Miller are the dedicated volunteers who also lend their time and talents to keeping the kitchen operating.
Around the time that most people are rising in the morning, smells of fresh-baked cakes are already filling the air around the church. Some people stop in for breakfast and are served eggs, bacon, and biscuits. When they are finished, they might pick up a waiting order or buy something fresh-baked.
Later in the morning, everything is cleaned up and everyone is gone by 11:30 a.m., having done their part that day to help support the church.
“I get a lot of satisfaction from serving people and talking to them when they come in to pick up something,” Lenhart said.
She worries a bit, though, about what will happen when she and Delauter have to give up working entirely.
“When the day comes that we have to stop doing this, there will be a lot of disappointed people,” Lenhart said.
The Trinity United Church of Christ offers various cakes, fruit and cream pies, chicken pies, chili, soups, country ham sandwiches, slippery pot pie, and dumplings. They are now taking orders for Christmas, if you would like to sample their goods for yourself or if you would like to place an order, call 301-271-2305.
Photo by James Rada, Jr.
Russ Delauter and Mary Jane “Tootie” Lenhart, recent recipients of the Thurmont Lions Club’s Melvin Jones Fellow Award, are busy at work in the kitchen at Trinity United Church of Christ.
