United Methodist Church is hosting Chow Mein Supper this evening

For seventy-three years, the parishioners of the United Methodist Church have been preparing and hosting their annual Chow Mein Supper for all to enjoy.  What started out as a fundraiser for the church youth group back in 1949 has become a social event that many look forward to each February.

The church will be holding the 2023 Chow Mein Supper this evening, February 8, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. or until the food is gone.  It will be a take-out drive-thru event at the church. There will be no inside dining.

Eunice Hannah, Lola Schmid and Grace Pautzke were some of the Methodist women who helped organize the first meal back in 1949.  The women had introduced dinners with an international flair to the Methodist Youth Fellowship.  From time to time, the women chose a country to study and prepared and served foods traditional to that country.  The youth also studied the cultures and enjoyed the foods which led to picking chow mein as a fundraiser for the group and, in turn, it became a church tradition for the past 73 years.  Deb Beyer remembers that Rene Potter was a hostess in the 1970s and 1980s and would always dress in a real kimono for the event.  Other Chinese décor, including paper lanterns, were used, too.

See complete story in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.