Taste Buds

A new online column by Vivanda Felice and Pipa Benoit, pseudonyms for two Monroe County foodies dedicated to supporting and highlighting local food spirit and culture

Generosity Growing 

As the severe weather trampled through Monroe County on March 14, we hunkered in the lowest level of our home, armed with flashlights and our cell phones. The ear-shattering hail plucked at our nerves. Through the brilliantly bright bursts of lighting, we saw our trees bend with the unmerciful high winds. We finally went to bed, without power (or water, thanks to the well pump), and hoped for a quick restoration of power. As daylight broke, we were relieved to find our neighborhood spared from the worst of the storm; others were facing extensive damage. The wall switches and faucets were still unresponsive, but we were optimistic; Monroe County Electric Co-Operative had always been quick to get us online.

We soon learned that the storms caused a power disruption for thousands of Monroe County residents. We observed the closure of Route 3 between Hanover and HH Road while making our way to the Waterloo Citizens for a Pool 5K Run. We saw the cavalcade of vehicles diverted from the highway due to downed transmission poles and power lines. Most downtown restaurants and businesses had power, so we remained hopeful that our electricity-hiatus would be brief. But for the entire 5K race (which was longer for me than most due to my turtle-like speed), I thought about our refrigerated perishable food. 

Since I am a foodie and enthusiastic home cook, my family’s refrigerator is blessedly bursting with meals to prepare and leftovers to enjoy. Some chicken from Schneider’s Quality Meats was marinating for Sunday’s family dinner. A spinach artichoke dip appetizer was prepped for my father-in-law’s birthday party. Homemade salad dressings were mixed for our “salad bar” drawer of fresh cut fruits and veggies. I was anxiously counting the hours that our freezer full of meat was without power. The thought of tossing all our perishable food and losing hours of effort is depressing, and possibly financially devastating for families. For a foodie, it also causes existential dread. My husband would literally have cried if we had to discard the brisket. 

Trying to conserve phone battery, I briefly got online to learn whether I could find a local solution. Stubborn German Brewing Company and their nextdoor neighbor Shorty’s Smokehouse in Waterloo both offered space in their walk-in coolers for locals needing refrigeration following the power outages. Shorty’s even encouraged locals to come in to charge their devices, no order required. Seeing these posts was no surprise. Stubborn and Shorty’s have a reputation for their generosity in the community. 

Thankfully we only endured twenty-four hours without power, and neighbors with generators lent us some refrigerated space. But it caused me to consider the regular generosity of our local businesses and restaurants. The neighbor-helping-neighbor trait distinguishes Monroe County from other places we’ve lived. And the generosity grows exponentially in times of hardship. 

For me, Stubborn German will forever be the place where we witnessed dozens of brave individuals donate their hair to Locks of Love in 2020 in solidarity with two local heroes battling cancer, Elsa Weimerslage and Lydia Boyer. Earlier this month, businesses again declared their admiration for the courageous fight of Elsa against a rare form of pediatric cancer, acute myeloid leukemia. Dozens of local businesses donated their profits to House of Neighborly Service (HNS) to help fund Elsa’s bucket list, as all treatment options have been exhausted. The cry to “paint the town orange” was answered in shop windows with orange shoe polish and on electronic marquees glowing orange, declaring our town #ElsaStrong. 

Oh Sugar! Ice & Cream in Waterloo dedicated their opening day to funding Elsa’s bucket list and donated fifty-percent of their sales. Oh Sugar! employees slung scoops in their “Support Squad Team Elsa” shirts. Ice cream cones with an orange Leukemia Awareness ribbon were painted on the windows. There, you could also pick up orange light bulbs donated by Farmer’s Insurance / Danny Schwartz Agency so your porch would glow orange for Elsa. As you drove down Market Street, orange ribbons hugged the lampposts. Orange ribbons are still available for purchase from Back Porch Thrift Store with 100% funds going to HNS for Elsa. If you stopped into “The Sip” at their pop-up in front of Dieterich Bank on the Waterloo courthouse square, you learned that 100% of profits were going to the bucket list. They were able to make a $1,900 donation thanks to shake-up sales and generous donors. 

The bravery of Elsa and the Wiemerslage family have touched the lives of so many in the Waterloo area community and beyond. Social media pages of many local restaurants and businesses showed how they were “lighting up the Loo” in orange after learning that Elsa’s cancer had returned. Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois’s Service Unit 211 troops are baking cookies to fund Elsa’s list. Students and sports teams wore orange and purple (Elsa’s favorite color). Elsa’s brother Eli’s hockey team, the Meramec Sharks and their opponents Chesterfield Hockey Club, both displayed orange ribbons. An eight year old Rogers Elementary student, Harper Matecki, donated all of her 50/50 winnings from the Waterloo High School and Triad regional championship basketball game to Elsa.

In her battle since October 2015, Elsa has become a local celebrity inspiring everyone who learns about her and meets her. It seems that every good deed done in her honor inspires another, and another, and another. 

On a blustery day in December, our teenage kiddos were on a walk down Market Street in Waterloo. Ill-prepared for the weather, they took shelter inside Waterloo Lumber. The employees greeted them kindly, offered them lollipops, water and hot chocolate while they thawed. The adage “one good deed deserves another” came to mind when I learned that local realtor Lisa Meegan paid it forward to Waterloo Lumber employees on another cold winter day earlier this year. Lisa arrived early one morning at Waterloo Lumber to donate a hearty, homemade breakfast to their employees. Her appreciation for their generosity in the community was crock pots full of cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, and biscuits and gravy. 

I wish I could see how one initial act of kindness has a broader and lasting impact, like ripples spreading across a pond. Lisa is one such person who causes ripples of compassion. In her career, assisting approximately 773 families, Lisa’s love language toward her clients has been gifts of food. As a realtor with 18 years under her belt, she knows that buying and selling a home is a stressful life event, even under the best circumstances. A new homeowner may not know which moving box contains their kitchen supplies and may need to rely on fast-food during the endless unboxing and organizing. To ease their transition, Lisa gifts her clients with ready-made meals. “There is nothing like a home cooked meal,” Lisa beamed. Some meals can be warmed and enjoyed right away, and some can be frozen to reheat on a later day. It isn’t surprising to us that Lisa was recently honored with a Re/Max Preferred Lifetime Achievement Award. Her generosity is limitless with year-round food gifts for clients and their families. I like to think about how each of Lisa’s families have paid it forward in the community, in their own way.

(Full disclosure as this article is published in the online edition of the Republic-Times, Lisa Meegan also recently treated the Republic-Times staff to a homemade appreciation lunch of mostaccioli, garlic bread, sugar cookies and her copycat recipe of “Rich and Charlie’s Famous Salad.” However, the authors of this post are not R-T employees, and are not compensated for their articles –  just people who allow food to occupy about ninety-percent of their brain space.) 

For families who have enjoyed living and working in Monroe County for generations, you might not recognize the remarkably generous nature of this community. It is uncommon for dozens of businesses to mobilize in support of one young hero’s bucket list. It is rare that a local realtor shows up on your doorstep with a week’s worth of home-cooked meals. As people who have lived around the world, in communities large and small, rich and poor, diverse and homogeneous, we see Monroe County as a precious and rare gem. Living here, and giving here, leaves an imprint on the lives of both the giver and recipient. In no other community have we seen such care-taking. We are honored to call this place home.