July 10, 2003

Plains Folk: Fall Suppers

Tom Isern, Professor of History
North Dakota State University

Even now, in the middle of cucumber and barbeque season, I know that come the first hard frost of autumn there will be that craving for another kind of food, the kind that comes from roasters and kettles. It will be the moon of fall suppers.

Last year I attended and wrote about two notable fall suppers, ones with tradition and community behind them, not to mention distinctive cuisine. There was the St. Mary’s Catholic Church Fall Supper at Dazey, and the Waldheim Lutheran Church Turkey and Lefse Supper at Kathryn.

I told you about the German parishioners of St. Mary’s gathering to cut kraut in the church basement and about the Norwegian ladies of Waldheim rolling all those lefse. I told you, too, about the physical beauty of these places as well as the spirit infusing them. I told you inadequately, because the most compelling parts of such traditions are ineffable.

I hope this autumn to demonstrate further my inadequacy. Across the northern plains of the United States and the prairies of Canada, there are countless fall supper stories like those of St. Mary’s and Waldheim, in spirit, but distinctive in local character. How about we all get out there and partake and commune?

This, then, is an invitation to all you laborers in church basements--you basters of birds, bakers of buns, fryers of fish, cutters of kraut, packers of perogies. I’d be happy hear of your fall supper traditions and also help get the word out about them. Hey, these are fund-raisers, after all.

How the heck did this thing get started? Some say that what we know as "fall suppers" originated as "fowl suppers," so called because of the birds that graced the tables. The fall-supper tradition seems particularly potent on the northern plains, as compared to points south. I believe this is because on the northern plains we otherwise lack a good fall holiday to celebrate the abundance of harvest. American Thanksgiving is a winter holiday in North Dakota.

Whatever their misty origins, here are a few things that make fall suppers particularly appealing. First, as a food critic has said, "Food tastes better when there’s a story behind it." So, what’s the story behind your fall supper? Many such stories have to do with the ethnic origins of parishioners, but there are layers atop that, too.

Second, what’s distinctive about the food served? The staples of fall suppers generally are of the comfort-food genre. So what’s particularly comforting, or tasty, here?

And third, how does your fall supper express the spirit of community? This is an evolving thing. Fall suppers that originated decades ago as gatherings of neighbors now have become reunion functions, bringing back kin and friends from far places, posing with new poignancy the old question, "Who is my neighbor?"

If I hear from a number of you, here’s what I’ll do. First, I’ll feature fall supper traditions in future columns, which I hope will provide beneficial publicity. Second, I’ll abstract information about them into a Web site, which will provide a guide for the discriminating public traveling the fall supper circuit. This also will be noted in the column. And third, I’ll be elbowing into the serving lines myself.

Here I am: Tom Isern, Professor of History, NDSU, Fargo ND 58105-5075. E-mail isern@plainsfolk.com  or telephone (701) 799-2942.

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Source: Tom Isern, (701) 799-2941, isern@plainsfolk.com
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu 

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