Local Life

Retro Stokes Mess Hall Tripping

Image
Hanging at the Stokes dining hall in ’78
Photo/courtesy of Jill Sorrentino

Well, COVID may have put off the sixth graders’ trip to Stokes State Forrest, but it didn’t quash it.

It just moved the tradition and fun to locals’ summer fall instead of spring/summer. And the week full of outdoor learning, pranks and bonding came to an end this week.

So, in keeping with the remembrance of good Stokes times, we take a trip back to the Stokes trip of 1978.

All good Stokes trippers congregate at the dining hall three times a day where parents and teaching staff cook up some good old fashioned camping grub en masse.

In this shot, it looks like a few straggler diners are either waiting for the breakfast, lunch or dinner bell to ring or taking a little respite from activity with bellies full of grub.

And when it came to grub, there were some cooks in the kitchen who served up some great stuff and loved every minute of it. There were pancakes, goulash, Sloppy Joes and so much more that the busy kids sopped up with glee as they enjoyed their usual communal dinner table antics. Holes in the bottom of Kool Aid cups, anyone?

So, here’s to the folks who cooked up and served the good grub and the kids, parents and teachers and CATs (remember them?) who gobbled it up with a side of fun times. What was your favorite Stokes dish? Dinner table dynamics?

This was one of the last years of the CATs — the RFH seniors who went along for the camp counselor trip and did a lot of their own funning. Your favorite CAT?

Investment Process