Noodle memories
Dear Editor:
I was raised in Meeker from 1943 to 1961, living at 645 Water St. with my grandparents John and Mary Murray. I graduated from Meeker High School in 1961, then moved away for college and a career that took me to Berkeley, California, where I now live with my spouse Pat Martin (Mowbray) who is a 1962 graduate of Meeker High School.
I am a regular reader of the Rio Blanco Herald newspaper. When reading last week’s edition, there was an advertisement for the Holy Family Catholic Church Fish Fry on March 13. It reminded me of a time in the past where families from this church created an annual fundraiser on St. Patrick’s Day, a dinner and dance at the IOOF Hall on March 17. The tradition of this dinner was a chicken and noodle supper with vegetables and desserts prepared by members of the church. They would feed 200-plus people.
My grandmother, Mary Murray, would make all the noodles, using 50 dozen eggs in total, for this event. For a month, every horizontal surface in our house was covered with noodles drying which had been hand rolled and cut.
On St. Patrick’s Day women from the church would boil the chickens for the noodles along with preparing the vegetables and desserts for this festive occasion. They would deliver the broth to our house, and my grandmother would then cook the noodles in big pots and then the feast would begin.
This event involved several long-standing families from the White River Valley. Here are a few Catholic families who come to mine that participated: Marie Murray and my brother John, Bill and Mary Murray and family, Tom and Opal Murray and family, Jim and Pauline Sheridan and family, the Bernie Stevenson family, the Elizabeth Amick family, the Zenor family, Bud and Maxine Holland and family, Hank and Irene Murray and family. (I apologize to those who have inadvertently been left out but as you can see this was over 70 years ago.)
No doubt there are several descendants of these families who still live and work in the area and will remember this special event, too.
These types of events always made Meeker a special community, and it is clear from reading the weekly paper, this community spirit continues to be alive and well. The foundation I received growing up in this community and having so many wonderful people influencing my life leaves me with fond memories of Meeker.
Mike Martin
California
