‘Tea party’ idea has turned into one of POA’s biggest fundraisers

More than 10 years ago, when Pride of Atmore (POA) was struggling to surpass two prior efforts and finally rehabilitate the Strand Theatre and adjoining building that formerly housed Atmore Hardware Store, the local non-profit group was looking for fundraising ideas.

Myrna Monroe, a POA board member and former co-owner of Atmore News (for which she wrote a weekly food column), came up with an idea for a social gathering that would focus on a light lunch and polite conversation among friends, new and old, and Myrna’s Salad Luncheon was born.

The simple gathering, held once a year, quickly outgrew its initial staging area, Atmore Area YMCA’s library, and was moved to First Presbyterian Church’s fellowship hall, which was destroyed by fire earlier this year. No matter where it was held, the fundraiser has continued to grow and has become one of the city’s biggest annual social events.

And, while the Strand rebuild was funded mainly through private donations and numerous grants, the importance of the salad luncheon can’t be ignored.

“This was her idea that she came up with,” said Dale Ash, a POA board member who voluntarily applied successfully for most of the grants, during this year’s edition, held Monday, August 4, at Encore at the Strand, the refurbished hardware store. “I’m proud to announce that the salad luncheon has raised more than $100,000 in about a decade. It also helped us get a $130,000 tourism grant.”

The event’s namesake said she had in mind an event that would bring people together to enjoy a light lunch in an old-time social setting that allowed them to renew old friendships and build new ones.

“I told the committee I wanted to have a salad luncheon in a setting like a tea house,” Myrna said as she greeted guests at the front of the banquet hall. “They told me it sounded good, and wherever it was held, we decorated it with old-time teacloths, Spring flowers and other, simple little things. I called my friends and asked if they would like to donate a salad. They liked the idea, and we charged $5 each for plates.”

The price was $15 per plate this year, but that didn’t deter those who wanted to be a part of the event.

“We printed 300 tickets, and all of them have been accounted for,” said Cindy Colville, one of the POA board members and volunteers who manned a buffet line that included 25 different salads — ranging from pasta, to taco to creative concoctions made with various vegetables and meats.

Plates were piled high with the salad offerings, but most everyone made room for four dessert choices – lemon bars, strawberry fluff, drum cake and cranberry salad – served up by Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors Claire Amerson, Braylan Shelley, Kenslee Chavira and Allison Flowers.

At the venue’s bar, tea and lemonade were served by Youth Leadership Atmore members Jordan Salter and Y McNeal and Chamber Ambassador Anna Kunkel.

While only 300 tickets were sold, including several to local banks and businesses who treated their employees to the meal, there was an abundance of food, and several people came in with cash in hand and walked out with plates.

“I like it,” said Sarah Hayes as she prepared to leave. “I like salad, and this is a good fundraiser, a good event.”

POA President Bub Gideons said the key to the event’s initial and continued success is a simple one.

“Myrna’s Salad Luncheon has become an annually anticipated event,” Gideons explained. “This is probably because Myrna Monroe is an institution in Atmore. For three decades she provided weekly meal recipes in Atmore News, without fail. In the first annual event, Myrna called on friends and subscribers to donate their favorite salad dish. It was an instant hit.

“The food actually represents what Atmore has been dining on over the decades. It represents to us the actual name of her decades-long weekly column, ‘What’s for Supper?’ Myrna’s lifelong tradition manifested in one sit-down meal for the community.”

As previously mentioned, Myrna sat just inside the Encore door, where Ronda Kuznieski collected tickets. Sitting with the “star of the show” were her long-time friend and business partner Sherry Digmon, friend Wanda Hall and Myrna’s special guest, her daughter Debbie Howard, who traveled from Dadeville to be a part of the event.

Debbie, who helped her mother prepare 8 dozen deviled eggs for the event, said she was caught up in the whirlwind of preparation.

“I didn’t realize I would be helping with the egg thing,” she smiled.

Myrna, 89, has been a part of governing boards for Greater Escambia Center for the Arts (GECA), the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations since migrating to Atmore several decades ago. She said she was glad to see such a crowd and that she was already thinking about the next salad luncheon that will bear her name.

“Yes,” she replied, dropping her head momentarily, a tired look on her face, before displaying the radiant smile that has become her trademark. “I’m already looking to next year.”

For more photos, see the Atmore Free Press Facebook page.