Twenty-Two
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| Lithograph from Jennie's Book, Jesus, Lover of My Soul |
John awaited the group on the front porch.
He bowed and gestured toward the front door. “Entrée!”
Jennie entered, followed by the others, one at a time.
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| 1111 Paquin St.* |
“Miss Church! How delightful to see you here!” Jennie grinned for the first time since receiving her diploma.
“My father thought I should come and help serve. He found a couple others to help at the restaurant in my place.”
“I may have convinced him a little…” John rubbed his thumb with his fingers, indicating he may have crossed the elder Church’s palm with additional silver.
“We got the tables from the Jefferson Supper Club. Most people are out celebrating elsewhere, so they could part with two of them.”
Jennie could tell John was enjoying his role of party-giver. He was eighteen now, and always out with his friends. Until now. She noted a change. Did he grow up overnight?
“Miss Jennie, you should be made aware that your brother John contributed toward the costs today.”
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| Unidentified Photo in Jennie's Album |
“Yes, well you know my job of delivering the Sunday papers…”
There was a polite knock at the door. “Oh, Miss Ida…I mean, Miss Spillar,” Jay stammered. “Please come
in.” A young lady from next door entered. She was a maid who got together with the young Starks from time to time, being Jennie’s age. She helped with the Jefferson Supper Club on occasion and was Jennie’s age. When the boys got more tables they invited her to join the group as soon as she was free. Jennie appeared delighted and waved from across the room.
The front room was growing very crowded, with little space
for overflow.
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| Ida Spillar Lived Next Door in 1910 Census |
“Why don’t we move these tables outside? The moving air will hopefully keep most of the flies away.”
“The front? Or the back? What say you, Jay? Jennie?” John was grasping the end of one of the tables.
Aunt Lizzie suggested they take one of the tables to the front, underneath the shade of the maple tree, and leave the other inside in the event some may wish to stay put. “Let’s leave the sandwiches here, and move the mints, nuts, and salads outside. The cake can be served later.”
Jay and John brought the table outside, and an entourage of the others trotted out the dishes of food.
“Look,” said Ella, pointing to a small table on the porch. “We can place the salad plates over there. People can grab one on their way over to the larger table. There are additional plates still inside for the sandwiches.”
“Where did you get all of the plates?” inquired Jennie to which her brother Jay responded, “From the supper club.”
The Jefferson Supper Club was formed out of a group of boarding students who lived in the neighborhood. They met in a large old dining room of the older house next door for supper each night, employing a cook from pooled funds. Such clubs were popular throughout the town with students who
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| Ads from Jennie's 1913 Yearbook |
rented their lodging. They helped students who did not wish to worry about what or where to eat each evening. Some of the clubs also served breakfast and packed lunches for the students to take with them. The Jefferson Club advertised their prices as $3.50 per week; Jennie did not know if that included breakfast and lunch. Those were probably extra, she thought.
“Aunt Ella, Grandfather. Aunt Lizzie. Perhaps you did not know, but we joined the local supper club after our house burned. You know, the cause of that fire was from the kitchen stove’s flue, and we have wished to minimize using the kitchen ever since. They cater to the university’s men, but they allow Jay and John to eat there on occasion and bring a meal home to me.” Jennie’s smile was crooked. She noticed a look exchanged between Aunt Lizzie on the porch and her grandfather, standing in the doorway. She wondered, but let it pass. J.K. receded back inside to rest on the fainting couch in the front room. It was a piece from Jennie’s mother’s family passed down to her and it was one of the pieces which survived the fire the year before.
“Come,” motioned Lizzie. “Grab a plate!”
John did not hesitate. Who was he to pass up food? He, however, grabbed two plates. “Johnny! Two?” Ella arched an eyebrow.
“They might or might not only be for me…” he winked.
All eyes followed him as he loaded up two plates, then threaded through the gathering for inside.
“Oh, isn’t that thoughtful! Bringing his grandfather a plate!”
Jay guffawed.
“I do not think the additional plate is for Grandpa…”
This got everyone even more interested. Through the window, they could see John handing a plate to Miss Church. She motioned to his grandfather, and John bowed slightly, bringing the other plate to Grandfather Stark. But he insisted Miss Church eat. The conversation drifted outside.
“Please, Miss Church. You have nicely arranged the sandwiches for everyone to serve themselves. Now, let me show you the backyard.” She giggled and followed the younger man out the back door.
“Hallooo!”
The gathering turned to view Mr. Victor Hornback peering from the street.
“Congratulations, Miss Stark!” he yelled only loudly enough for Jennie to hear him.
Jennie strode over to the sidewalk and motioned for Victor to join her there. In muted tones, she exchanged her well wishes, then inquired if he wished to join them.
“Oh, I am no interloper. I just could not help seeing the merriment from down the street and came to see what was happening.”
“I am curious, Mr. Hornback. Did you know this is my residence?”
Victor grinned but remained silent.
“I see. Well, you may as well join us. But are you not with family? Or friends?”
“As I suspected, my mother was unable to come. And my chums have plans elsewhere.”
“I am surprised you have not been engaged to sing somewhere today.”
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| 1912 Yearbook |
“Oh, many tried to procure us. None succeeded. Not today! And besides, there is less demand once Albert Heinz went to China.” Jennie winced. Albert was… well, she did not have time to think about him just then. It hurt knowing her friend was so far away. Married to someone else.
Jennie tugged at Victor’s arm, realizing too late she was being forward. “Please. Join us.”
Inside the house, Misses Ella and Lizzie stood next to J.K., engaging in a quiet discussion.
“Are we going to let her know? Or do you suppose she already has been apprised we have been paying for much of her expenses?” Lizzie Gardner set her plate on the windowsill which was shoulder-high. Above it was a stained glass window, both in keeping with the Prairie School of architecture. Many bungalows on the block were built in the same style, emphasizing horizontal lines and peppered with details such as leaded windows on either side of the fireplace and built-in bookcases. And polished oak columns.
Though the Prairie Style had been around a few decades, it was still very current. Most houses on the block were built between 1890 and 1910.
Next to where the party gathered was Orval’s lot, still vacant after the fire. John made sure the weeds were kept in abeyance. Jennie sometimes wondered what kind of a house her father would build on the lot. She assumed he could afford a modest replacement with the insurance settlement he got. What she did not know was that her father purchased a farm, north of another town, and that many of his long absences were spent there.
There was much that Jennie did not know…
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| From "Bible Forget Me Nots" |
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