Photo by Mark Layman
That's a Stretch
Senior Center members have been making noodles for fundraisers for almost three decades
It’s seven o’clock in the morning on Noodle Day when John and Eleanor Samborsky arrive at the Pickerington Senior Center.
Eleanor loads the dishwasher with trays while John begins mixing the dough. He doesn’t use measuring spoons; years of mixing noodles have given him an innate knowledge of the quantities necessary to bring the dough to the proper consistency. It’s more of an art than a science.
Photo by Mark Layman
That's a Stretch
“You have to get the dough just right,” John says. “You don’t want it to be too wet, because then it will ball up, but if it’s too dry, the noodles won’t form right.”
Meanwhile, Eleanor begins preparing the drying tables, covering them with clean cloths. The freshly made noodles will be laid out on these tables, covered with more cloths and left to dry overnight. Eleanor has refreshments waiting for her team of noodle stretchers, who will arrive soon.
“The ladies who come here and spread noodles, we just couldn’t do it without them,” she says. “They come here and have coffee and cookies, and just have a great time.”
Senior Center members have been making and selling homemade noodles for 28 years. The noodles are available for sale at area craft shows and at the center. At just $2 a bag, they sell quickly.
The team, on this day in July, is planning to produce 115 bags of noodles and sell 200 at the Pickerington Labor Day Fish Fry.
Photo by Mark Layman
That's a Stretch
Next to arrive is Julia Archer. John loads one of the two large noodle-making machines with semolina and turns on the mixing blades, and Julia pours the egg mixture into an opening in the top of the dough compartment. She pours carefully, watching for the golden yellow dough to reach the perfect, crumbly yet soft consistency.
“Semolina makes the best noodles and gives the best color,” says John. “It’s the heart of the wheat.”
Eleanor hurries away to pick up Francis Stotler, who will operate the second machine. Stotler has been making noodles at the center for 27 years. John and Eleanor took over management of the project four years ago, but Stotler is still at the heart of the production process.
When she arrives, John adds ingredients to the second noodle machine. The dough is now ready, and the machines begin extruding soft, golden strips of noodle. Archer’s machine creates thin noodles while Stotler makes broad noodles on the other one. They catch the strips in their hands, measuring them with practiced ease, then slice them free with a quick motion from a sharp blade and lay them aside on the clean trays.
Photo by Mark Layman
That's a Stretch
Eleanor whisks the trays out of the kitchen and spreads the thin noodles over the cloth on one of the long tables. She places trays of broad noodles on other tables, where more of the team has begun to gather. The ladies stretch the broad noodles, one by one, and lay them out in orderly rows to dry. They smile and chat while they work.
“This gives the ladies something fun to do,” Eleanor says. “They are just like little chatterboxes. We have all nice people here, and we have fun.”
Up to this point, the team has produced 598 bags of noodles already in 2015. In 2014, it sold 1,201 bags and, in 2013, it sold 1,529 bags. A favorite sales location for John and Eleanor is the craft show at Asbury South United Methodist Church.
“We’ll sell 200 bags by one o’clock at Asbury,” Eleanor says.
Photo by Mark Layman
That's a Stretch
Noodle-making became a fundraising tradition at the center all those years ago thanks in large part to Vivian Badger, a member who was a great cook and also made wonderful pies, Stotler says.
“She started it,” says Stotler. “She thought it would give us something to do.”
As for why the project has been so successful for so many years, Eleanor has the answer.
“Have you tasted our noodles? They are good!”
Pickerington resident Brenda Layman is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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