Vacation Bible School 2

After the Korean War (1950–1953), the country settled into a pattern of peace. To kids growing up in Pine Village, Indiana, life appeared sunny and secure. Attending Vacation Bible School at the Methodist Church was simply what kids did in the spring at about the time that farmers had finished planting.

Freshly Baked Cookies

A Highlight of Vacation Bible School

(The New Fun with Dick and Jane, 1956)

The morning temperatures were not too hot but just right for walking to the church, a brick building that stood near Pine Creek. The staff of volunteers included a few junior high or high school girls who assisted the young mothers that led us kids in lessons and songs. The time flew by. Soon, we caught glimpses of older women who were carrying trays as they entered the basement.

We could hardly wait for the invitation to form a line to receive our cookies! Women in my grandmother’s generation baked homemade treats for us kids to enjoy. Each of us had two cookies. They were not modest offerings; instead, they were big, as if each baker were trying to outdo the others.

The kitchen area in the church basement was painted white, and the small windows near the ceiling diffused a pale sunlight reminiscent of a dairy barn. The natural scent of the cool lower level resembled the fragrance of old libraries. When the baked goods were displayed for us, the aromas of peanut butter and chocolate arose and wafted up the stairs. We greedily consumed raisin cookies prepared to perfection, brown sugar creations packed with rich chunks of melted chocolate, and sugar cookies as large as saucers with lemony sugar sparkling on top. I can close my eyes and see again the smiling faces of the cooks whose delight in life, apparently, was to serve us. They had our same last names because they were our grandmothers and our great aunts. They beamed as they noted how greatly we appreciated their handiwork.

We could not foresee the turbulent decade that followed. Time seemed to move more slowly back then. To us kids, the way of life that included cookies in the church basement during Vacation Bible School was the best way that had been devised and not likely to change. Everything seemed to have found its proper place within a tranquil world. Looking upon that past makes me wonder if I had enough appreciation for it at the time.