Bill Clary, a native of Valentines, Virginia, for whom Dinner on the Grounds was the first Sunday of August. But other regional churches held their revival meetings on the other Sundays so that there was no competition.
Clary recollected that each family had its spot on the grounds and that they brought tables, which they set up in the yard under the shade of the trees. A white cloth covered each table, and everybody stood to eat.
Picnickers brought their own food. Bill writes, “Our table was famous for at least three things: Aunt Sally’s biscuits (I suppose aunt Sally, Uncle Robert’s wife, made these, but she had a cook, and the cook may have done it) and my mother’s cucumber pickle and coconut pie. The menu was pretty consistent. The constants were fried chicken and baked ham and biscuits. There were always cucumber pickle and peach pickle, eaten with cake. There was corn pudding. If there was any green, I don’t know what it was; I don’t remember cabbage. There may have been snaps, but snaps aren’t unless they’re hot. There was always cocoanut cake as well as pie; Southerners love cocoanut. And I believe there was chocolate pie but not chocolate cake. The only drink was iced tea, sweet and without lemon. Southerners have never eaten watermelon as dessert; it was chilling in the icebox and was split when we got home from church.”
William Atwell Clary was 82 years old when he wrote this in 2000.
Featured Image: Bill Tiernan. Wright’s General Merchandise houses the post office for the Brunswick community of Valentines (2017)