To Edith, Miss Polly and all the Gals in Lunch Lady Land



Ah, the lunch ladies....those hostesses of hot-lunch hospitality. They are the underestimated, overworked ladies who saw to our school lunches every day. We laid on the praise when we wanted that extra slice of school pizza or subjected them to our grumbles on the days they served something we didn't approve of. While the ladies simply served what the school system provided them with, they had to take the grief the kids handed out when they found the meals unsatisfactory. The school lunch program was an integral part of the education system and the lunch ladies are some of the unsung heroes of that system.

Edith Williams was my preferred lunch lady, mostly because she's always been one of my favorite ladies, period. She's always been a dynamic person and her family has been neighbors, friends and church compatriots of my family since my childhood. After retirement, Edith took her own serious bite out of life and became more active than ever. She's traveled the world and is always on the go. Edith's my go-to image for aging gracefully.

So, the lunch ladies deserve appropriate praise for their years of service and hard work. Adam Sandler paid his own hilarious tribute in his song and SNL skit "Lunch Lady Land"(sloppy joe....sloppy,sloppy joe,yeah) starring a nimble and lipsticked Chris Farley. Happily, the musical salute I get to use is an Ed James original song. Ed and his adorable wife Michelle are longtime wonderful friends of mine and we've been big fans of Ed's music from way back when he and his brother had their own band(Terra!). Michelle and Ed live in North Carolina now with their precious daughter Anna. Michelle clued me into a song Ed wrote about a lunch lady named Miss Polly. Thanks to Ed and Michelle for the use of the song and thanks to the lunch ladies everywhere.... Click on the title of this post to hear Ed James' song "Miss Polly"!

Comments

  1. Oh my gosh!! I LOVE THIS!!! Edith is one of my favorite Lunch Ladies too and every Christmas, even though she is retired and a world traveller, she always sends me her special Chex Mix. TONS of it LOL!! And while we are on the subject of food let us not forget all those evenings spent in Ed's basement listening to the band rehearse while his mom fed us greasy cheeseburgers and french fries that were to DIE FOR. A BIG thumbs up and a debt of gratitude to all our favorite Lunch Ladies. C'mon ya'll. You KNOW you had a favorite too. Do tell!

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  2. Wow! Loved this blog post and Kristy's comments. I am so pleased that you were able to use the tune. It worked like a charm! You are right about Edith.... She is a great example of aging gracefully, and she can still cook up a storm.

    Ed's mom did make some awesome greasy cheeseburgers, fries, & chili and her grill was always open until the wee hours of the morning. You could certainly lose all track of time at the James house!

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  3. ~~Not growing up in St. Marys, I will have to say that Beth and Tana loved, loved Mrs. Ambrose. Beth wanted to grow up to be a "tray scraper" :~)

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  4. Greggus!

    You have nailed it again--what lovely sentiments! I can't think of a favorite lunch lady....loved them all. But remember, I didn't quite get to develop the relationship with them since I biked home each day at lunch for my infamous 4 bacon sandwiches on white bread with kid mustard. Most of my elementary school lunches were prepared by the ultimate lunch lady of them all--Grandma Lamp!

    Kak

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  5. Oh, my....how could I have forgotten Elaine's cheeseburgers? I chowed on those bad boys from the band days through Allison's parties. They were awesome!! Deanna, thank you for visiting! Kak, you know how I love me some bacon sammiches with kid mustard....mmmmmmm

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  6. It's so nice to read the comments about Mom's greasy cheeseburgers! Our home and her kitchen were always open to everyone. In fact, it was always so nice to see some of our friends continue to stop and see Mom and Dad when they were in town as we've grown older. So many would walk in the door just like the "good ole days" without knocking first. You have no idea how much that meant to my mom.
    Thank you for such great memories!!

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  7. And I almost forgot...how could I??? An Ed James original song???? AWESOME!!!! XXX

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