B2—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, November 14,1981
Meet bncaster Com
Fran Sander shares love of
BY SALLY BAIR the opportunity to go through each
Staff Correspondent society’s activity and make a
“After four years of training, summary for the annual con
you know it’s coming and it’s time vention held Saturday.
to step in. ’’ She says. “The women are very
Those were the thoughts of Fran involved in their Societies. One
Sauder, Mount Joy R 3, a few days Society did 10 different things. I
before she assumed the presidency am impressed with where the
of Lancaster County’s Society of Societies give their- money.” All
Farm Women. She had served two- the women go out and help others
year terms as both second vice and give money to the needy. But I
president and first vice president. am really thrilled that they also
Fran said she felt the time was give of themselves. They go and
right and she was ready to accept visit and often take meals to the
her responsibility but she er- less fortunate."
pressed awe that the organization Fran expessed pleasure that the
has been going for 64 years. Societies keep themselves up to
“We've been going for that long. In date on many issues, mentioning
my term I want to keep everything speakers on topics like wood
going as it has been,” she said. burning stoves, silo gas and gas in
About her role, she says, “Being manure pits. “They keep them
president is a way of serving. You selves up to date. TTus year
leam to know so many different Hospice has been used quite a lot at
ladies and you can pick out out- meetings, and there have been
standing ladies as you visit dif- programs on health problems,”
ferent societies There are lovely she stated. While many programs
ladies and you can build up a or* enjoyable and fun, most are of
friendship in this capacity as a ■* educational value,
county officer.” "Doing and helping in their
Fran has been a member of a communities,” is an important
Farm Women Society smce 1967 part of Farm Women, and Fran
when she became a" charter adds, “Just by living our lives and
member of #27 “It sounded in- letting it shine out and showing
terestmg and I just wanted to get what a farmer is we are serving. A
involved,” she recalls as her word of cheer or a friendly smile is
reason for joining. what goes furthest in our busy
She sees one of the most un- world. It is the small things that
portant aspects of the Societies as add up.” There are so many ladies
“fellowship,” adding, “We who think they can’t do anything,
wouldn’t want to give up the fun but it is the small, simple things
and the fellowship. In our busy that count.”
lives we need to take time off. In Fran sees Farm Women
my society I feel at home, and Socieities as being different from
when lam there I relax and enjoy other women’s groups because,
it.” “Their interests are geared to
As first vice president she had sharing and doing for others. We
Vfamesfead
cl v(es
Posing in front of a shelf unit she designed to hold her
hobby, Fran can explain the significance of the fifty varied tea
's new Farm Women
resident
work, cooking
do a lot of that. We share a com
mon bond. We are all worthy to
share of ourselves in small Ways.”
Fran herself is a perfect
example of someone who is doing
and sharing for others in a humble,
unassumingway.
A long-time 4-H leader, Frartis
very well known for her cake,
decorating abilities which she
shares with 4-H’ers through die
Mount Joy Community dub. This
brings Fran rewards long after the
project is finished when former 4-
H’ers call for advice as they
branch out into making cakes for
others. “Many are making wed
ding cakes and call for advice in
how to assemble them, or want to
know something they forgot,” she
says.
Now Fran’s talents have
stretched far beyond just
decorating cakes. An excellent
cook, Fran is now in the catering
business with her husband Roy,
something that began when a
friend asked her to serve a wed-'
ding reception. “There was no
planning, it just happened one step
at a tune,” Fran relates.
That was four years ago, and
now Fran may go out as many as
four times a week. While’ the
preparation is done in her farm
home kitchen - large, but not out of
the ordinary, Fran does all the
cooking at other facilities, such as
churches or fire halls. She likes to
cook at the place where the food is
being served to avoid a leftover
flavor.
“I just think I’m using God’s
talent to go out and serve. It spread
by word of mouth. I never did any
advertising, and that is
satisfying,’’ she says.
Fran also likes her catering
work because she and her husband
share. He helps prepare the meat
and potatoes at home, and does a
lot of the carting in and out. But he
really comes into his own when he
takes over the stoves in the
facilities they are using and
supervises the cooking while Fran
goes over the details of serving.
She also credits the help of her
sister Mary Lou Sauder and two
couples who are friends, Wilmer
and Ruth Nissley and Raymond
and Ruth Brubaker, with helping
her catering be a success. She says
cups found there.
This loveJy arrangement of vegetables greets visitors at the
Sauder home. Featuring seasonal items from the garden, it
has an old school desk as the base. Fran adds some fresh
flowers to the picture.
she plans to rely heavily on them
during her term as Farm Women
president when she will have other
obligations to fulfill.
An original idea with Fran is a
pie bar, which allows diners to cut
their own slice of pie and dip their
own ice cream, “ft works out
really nice,” Fransays, ‘‘l usually
make five or six kinds of pie, and
sometimes I’ll make a cake.” Her
next step is a cake bar, which she
is trying soon.
Fran will not cater an event for
less than 30 people and has cooked
for over 400. She also has no desire
to begin hosting such events in her
home, although it has frequently
been suggested.
How did she develop this ability?
Fran laughs and says, ‘ ‘My mother
and mother-in-law were good
cooks and we always had a hired
man so we had two full’meals a
day.” It has given her pleasure to
have the bndes of her hired men
call and ask for recipes. “They
- enjoyed my cooking, and when
they visit they’ll often visit at meal
tune. I like that feeling. -They are
. always welcome and-they knofl
■it.” - - - --
Fran is also the : rnbtßer A 'o{ four
children so has had'lota of ex
perience preparing food lor them.
Her children are Roy,
Jr., 25; Jim, 21 and Glenni 18, who
is still living at home. '
She says, “It was exciting for me
to figure out 10 or 15 tuns|a recipe
and figure out the cost|l teamed a
lot by trial and error and when we
were finished we often asked how
we could improve something.” She
says she keeps very good records
to help her.
Isn’t all this cooking a lot of
work? Fran says, “I take one day
at a time. I have always enjoyed
cooking and it’s fun to be cooking
again for more people.” She ad
mits she missed the large amount
of cooking with just one child at
home.
She makes all her own rolls and
pies, but doesn’t like to freeze
things ahead. Therefore, she haP
been known to get up at three in the
morning* to begin her homemade
rolls which take four hours of
rising time. She added, “I plan
ahead and make my pie crumbs in
advance. I roll out my pie crusts a
day or two ahead.
Fran will cook whatever people
ask for it is something she can
handle, but she said she gets a lot
of compliments on her "good old
fashioned cooking."
About lhe catering business she
says, “It has * -added a new
dimension to our lives. We have
met fots of new peopled
While cooking is a big interest at
the'moment, Fran is very good
with her hands in other ways, and
likes to do crewel and needlepoint
in her free time. She says with a
laugh, "I have a whole drawerfuJ
of things to do. I’ll never grow old
and not have anything to do.”
She says, “We love to travel and
we want to do more of that.” flj
In the travel department the*
had their dream come true last
summer when they traveled to
Germany and met a friend of Roy’s
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