Title
Declaring August 25, 2017 as Hamline Church Dining Hall Day in the City of Saint Paul.
Body
WHEREAS, in 1897, a small group of women from the Hamline Methodist Episcopal Church Ladies Aid Society sold sandwiches and cold drinks at the Minnesota State Fair, to raise money for the Midway neighborhood church; and
WHEREAS, by the early 20th century the dining hall was in its own white wooden building with a cupola on top, near the Hippodrome/Coliseum; and
WHEREAS, in early-years women and children volunteers met at the church and rode to the fair in church member Bert Wallace’s horse-drawn wagon; and
WHEREAS, in the wake of the Christmastime 1925 fire which destroyed the church, church women made a $15,000 pledge toward a new church building and used dining hall proceeds to pay the pledge; and
WHEREAS, in the 1930s dining hall diners paid 35 cents for a full meal at the diner -- meat loaf or ham loaf, boiled potatoes, coleslaw, beet pickles, pie, ice cream and beverage -- with second helpings for free; and
WHEREAS, the dining hall made it through site moves, the Great Depression, World War II and food rationing, the statewide polio epidemic and many other local, national and worldwide events; and
WHEREAS. in 1992, so many church volunteers had been given the state fair’s 50-year volunteer award, the dining hall itself was given the award; and
WHEREAS, the dining hall’s countless volunteers have served up food and fellowship to countless guests who enjoy Hamline ham loaf and Hamline egger breakfast sandwiches; and
WHEREAS, Hamline Dining Hall celebrates 120 years at the Minnesota State Fair as the fair’s longest vendor;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Saint Paul City Council declares Friday, August 25, 2017 as Hamline Church Dining Hall Day in the City of Saint Paul.