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Adopt A Server: Patrons Help Ohio Valley Restaurant Workers Weather Pandemic Holidays

Stay-at-home mom Sarci Eldridge has a big heart. So when Kentucky entered its second round of restaurant restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, her first thought was for her favorite server, Jessica Carey.

“Me and my mom were talking, and we were just like, you know, we should just get Jessica something to get her through the holidays,” Eldridge said. “Some gift cards and stuff. She has a little boy.”

Carey has been a server and a bartender at Tex-Mex chain Chuy’s in Lexington, Kentucky, for about seven years. She loves the Eldridge family, too. “I was going through a lot of stuff when I met them, and she and [her husband] Nate and her mom were just so sweet to me, and always seemed to know when I needed a hug.”

Carey was surprised when, out of the blue, she received a message from Eldridge asking what her son, Dain, wanted for Christmas. But after months of reduced hours and meager unemployment benefits, Carey needed the help.

“So I sent her a super small list, it was just like four things I think.”

Eldridge posted about the exchange on her personal Facebook page, she said, and it blew up. “I had some people go, like, ‘Oh, that’s a really good idea, I should do something for my favorite server.’”

A few days later, Eldridge started a Facebook group based on the idea, which she called “Adopt a Server Kentucky.” Within a few days, it had hundreds of members; within a month, four thousand. Some were generous Kentuckians moved to help struggling restaurant workers. Others were restaurant workers themselves, swallowing their pride to ask for help buying necessities, paying the electric bill, and making Christmas special for their kids.

“We need to come together and try to help people through the holidays, because through no fault of their own, these people have lost their job twice in a year, or massive pay reduction, and that’s just not easy,” Eldridge said of the group.

Many Workers, Low Wages

According to the Brookings Institution, waiting tables is the eighth most common job in the United States, with more than 12 million Americans in the hospitality sector. (This figure includes hotel workers and back-of-house workers, like dishwashers, in restaurants.) Restaurant work ranks among the top 10 industries with the most workers in the Ohio Valley states of Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

The industry has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, with establishments forced to close for long periods and struggling to survive on reduced capacity even when they’re permitted to open their doors. It’s left servers like Carey with their heads spinning as they balance newly unreliable incomes with kids’ changing school schedules and concern for their health and their families’.

On top of that, the unemployment insurance system is uniquely ill-suited to meet the needs of people in the restaurant industry, according to the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program fellow Annelies Goger.

“In every state, you have to have income at a certain level every quarter in order to qualify [for unemployment], and many tipped workers, because that minimum wage is so low, wouldn’t be able to document that they have enough income to show that they’re eligible,” Goger said.

In addition to making too little money to qualify for unemployment in the usual system, the tipped minimum wage also hurts millions of servers. The national minimum wage is $7.25/hour, but the minimum wage for tipped workers is just $2.13 an hour. Since unemployment benefits are calculated as a percentage of wages, tipped workers who do qualify for unemployment insurance are likely to receive just a fraction of what other workers might bring in.

“They said I would get $199 every two weeks,” said Chuy’s server Carey. “I could make that much in one day in a good day shift. So that’s like one day, stretched over two weeks.”

The expiration of some federal support for displaced workers hit the Ohio Valley especially hard. A report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows personal income dropped last quarter by about 24% in Kentucky, and by about 30% in West Virginia — the sharpest declines in the country.

Kindness Amid “Dystopia”

Louisville server Sara Bell spent weeks unemployed, then suffered a knee injury that’s kept her off her feet even as Kentucky has reopened some dine-in capacity at its restaurants. With no paid time off, Bell turned to the brand-new Adopt a Server page for help.

“I felt a little weird asking for help, because I don’t have kids,” she said. But she does have cats: Jibby, Chewie and Duffy. “My main thing is that I want to keep them fed.”

Adopt a Server helped Sara Bell get treats for Jibby (left) and Chewie (right).

Bell was quickly “adopted,” the language used on the page when a non-server commits to fill at least some of a server’s needs. “This sweet angel, she sent me a 22-pound bag of cat food and a big thing of their treats. And then she sent me a $100 Visa gift card and a $25 Starbucks gift card, and she kind of told me, everyone deserves a little Christmas.”

Also in Louisville, exotic dancer Tabitha Rowan worried how she would be received if she posted to Adopt a Server. But, she reasoned, closed mouths don’t get fed. “Here I am, you know, am I going to feed my son this last pack of hot dogs, this last box of cereal, and I’m just not going to eat so he can?”

So she posted, “I don’t want to come on here and not be 100% honest so here is my truth. I am not a server, I am a dancer.” She went on, “I was genuinely worried to make this post because of the “stereotype” that surrounds us. However, I promise that that stereotype does NOT apply to us all. I am just a mother that works VERY hard to take care of her son.”

She added a link to an Amazon wish list with Christmas presents for her three-year-old son, Legend.

In Lexington, Eldridge saw Rowan’s post, and she approved it. “She was just precious to me, for no other reason than she was just completely honest about her plight.”

Rowan was adopted the next day. “I opened up the door one day, and there were like six boxes sitting there.”

She went on, “I like the name Adopt a Server, but that group needs to be Beyond Blessings, is what it needs to be. That group is amazing.”

Tabitha Rowan asked for help with Christmas presents for her son Legend.

It’s hard to tell how many restaurant workers Adopt a Server has helped, but the page is brimming with multiple new posts each day. Scrolling through them is a rollercoaster of emotions: heartfelt photos of happy babies in brand-new clothes, interspersed with desperate pleas for help keeping the heat on.

Bell appreciates what the group has given her, but she sees a dark side to it, too. “This pandemic has really radicalized me,” she said. “As great as it is that people are so generous wanting to help others, it’s also incredibly dystopian the way our government failed the working class.”

An Unexpected Gift

Shortly after Jessica Carey sent Sarci Eldridge her son’s wish list, 11-year-old Dain came rushing to his mom’s side with a last-minute item for his Christmas list.

“There was a little bottle of cologne that he just loves, and he loves it because it is one that his dad gave him. And his dad died three years ago. He’s been stretching that cologne impossibly, and it finally ran out not too long ago,” she said. “He’s not very talkative about his dad. But that was one thing that meant a lot to him.”

The last few years have been difficult for Carey, she said, dealing with the loss of her high-school sweetheart and raising her son alone. It turns out, Adopt a Server had one more gift for Carey herself that wasn’t on any list.

“Me being me, I never thought that I was anything special. And I know that sounds bad to say about yourself, but … the fact that somebody thought that that was enough to want to help other people, like, I never realized that that is what I meant to them. And it feels really good.”

The Ohio Valley ReSource gets support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and our partner stations.

Mullens Holiday Decorations Contest Cuts Through COVID Fears To Bring Holiday Cheer

Communities across the world are getting creative to celebrate the holidays while addressing COVID concerns. In Wyoming County, West Virginia, an annual parade of lights was cancelled. Instead, Mullens Area Chamber of Commerce members encouraged residents and businesses to participate in a holiday decorations contest.

On the corners of most streets in Mullens, you’ll hear silver bells, well — silver speakers — playing Christmas music.

That’s also where you’ll find holiday displays from businesses for this year’s contest. The City of Mullens usually hosts the contest but this year, the Mullens Area Chamber hosted the contest. This year’s business winner was State Farm Insurance.

State Farm Insurance placed first in the 2020 Mullens Area Chamber of Commerce Business Holiday Decorating Contest.

It’s a holiday tradition for many families in the region to venture to town and check out the lights.

Making Mullens Merry and Bright

John Morgan lives on one of the side streets in city limits.

A dogwood tree decorated with Christmas lights on Church Street in Mullens, WV in December 2020.

“I just start going up the tree with the lights and then I go up and then I see a gap,” Morgan said, “and then I got to go buy more lights. I keep working my way all the way around the tree and then the globes, the ornaments just kind of come this year and that year.”

He’s just about finished putting up his display for 2020.

“I couldn’t find any more lights,” Morgan said as he laughed. “Mullens is sold out.”

The community seems to have rallied behind another holiday tradition hosted by the chamber, the holiday decorating contest.

“I think everybody has had enough of the COVID-19 and being stuck in a house and wanting some Christmas spirit,” Morgan said. “You know, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is what it’s all about. But being out and making things as pretty as you can in your neighborhood is part of the Christmas season.”

The vice president of the Mullens Area Chamber of Commerce, Cathy Huff, lives right next door to the Morgan’s.

“It seems like this year, everybody’s just really excited about it,” Cathy said. “And Mullens is really, really decorated. I mean, you can drive around at night and the lights are absolutely beautiful. I’m so proud of everybody.”

But you won’t find the winner of this year’s residential contest in town.

A Luminous Love Story

Cleadus Earl Thomas lives just across the railroad tracks before you get to town. Most folks call him Earl.

“Well, I’ve got about a little over 12,000 lights up,” Thomas said. “I buy strands and usually there’s just 100 bulbs to string like 20 foot long. I just mostly count the strands that I put up. I put up over 115 strands so.”

Thomas is 83 years-old, and he’s been putting up holiday lights since he first built his house in 1997.

Cleadus Earl Thomas at his home December, 2020.

“My wife, she really liked Christmas,” he said. “ And so we basically I just put them up, for her, for the kids, grandkids. But it does take quite a bit of time.”

Until this year, he thought he wasn’t eligible to enter the Mullens decorating contest.

“Most of the time I think it was for the town,” Thomas said. “And then they said well, ‘you’re not in city limits,’ so they wouldn’t include you.”

This year, the contest was hosted by the Mullens Area Chamber of Commerce, which opened up the contest to folks outside of city limits.

Either way, Thomas’s display can’t be ignored. It’s gotten a reputation in the community and it should. In mid-December a ladder was leaned on the gutters on the front of Thomas’s house. He had just gotten down from checking the bulbs.

Earl Thomas won the 2020 Mullens Area Chamber of Commerce Residential Holiday Lights Contest.

“I just got there at one time to try to fix that section that was out and you got to take the bulbs out and try to do one that burns. See if it burns and switch them in and out until you get the bad one.”

His wife passed away in 2013. But there’s no doubt she’d be proud to know that Thomas was finally recognized by the Mullens Area Chamber for his impressive holiday display. As for Earl, he says he’s just glad to know that someone sees the lights so his work isn’t in vain.

“It would just make it, maybe little bit of effort paid off,” Thomas said. “Well at least somebody’s looking at them.”

Complete Bookkeeping Solutions placed second in the Mullens Area Chamber of Commerce Business Holiday Lights competition in Mullens in December 2020.

Justice, Health Advisers Urge Holiday Caution, Draft Vaccine Distribution Plan

With the holiday season fast approaching and some leery of traditional family gatherings, Gov. Jim Justice and his health team are urging West Virginians to remain cautious as the coronavirus surges across the state and the nation.

In a Friday virtual news conference, Justice warned residents to be safe through the upcoming holidays. The suggestion comes as the world waits for a vaccine to be made available to the public.

“As soon as soon as this vaccine is available. We will be absolutely distributing it in West Virginia,” Justice said, noting that his administration has been working with the National Guard since August on how the vaccine would be rolled out in the state.

Under a draft of the plan, which was released Wednesday, health care workers would be the first to receive the vaccine, with other essential workers and then members of the general public.

With widespread distribution of a vaccine likely still months away, Justice and his health advisors also asked residents to reconsider holiday traditions that bring large numbers of people together indoors.

“I surely hope and pray that you’ll be safe in being with your loved ones and your families and — at the same time — you may very well be smart to do at least some of it on a virtual basis,” Justice said.

Those words of caution come as West Virginia and the rest of the United States continue to see increases in the spread of the virus.

“This thing is getting worse,” Justice said. “And I truly believe it is going to get worse before it gets better.”

Justice noted Friday that 27 West Virginians have died from the virus since Wednesday — bringing the total number of deaths attributed to the virus to 639.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reports 1,081 new cases in the past 24 hours — marking the third day in a row that more than a thousand new cases were recorded.

In total, the 38,480 residents have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic, of which 12,177 are considered active.

In recent weeks, that remains true. New cases of the coronavirus have skyrocketed — records for new daily cases continue to be broken and the number of deaths reported each day is rising as well.

Following an executive order issued last week that requires testing of doctors, nurses and staff working in nursing homes and assisted nursing facilities twice a week, Justice said that initiative has yielded 11 asymptomatic positive cases.

Justice has repeatedly said this week he is opposed to shutting down businesses, schools and other aspects of public life. He spent much of Wednesday’s virtual briefing attempting to dispel rumors that the state was headed in such a direction and reiterated that position Friday.

“We’re not moving towards shutting down in any place at this point in time. But, absolutely, this thing is trending and it is trending bad,” Justice said.

But the governor also said Friday that more drastic measures — including some closures or, possibly, a curfew — could be on the table if the spike continues and reaches a more critical point.

“Everything’s got to stay on the table. You see what’s going on across this nation, I mean, for crying out loud,” Justice said. “There’s people that are shutting down all kinds of different things. And if this situation continues to get worse, we’re going to have no choice also. We have got to be able to protect our people.”

Justice said if the situation worsens, he would consider taking action in a focused way, giving attention to counties that are considered hotspots.

“It may very well be that I have to come back in here on Monday, and we have to take a pin point — a scalpel — to situations, instead of a sledgehammer,” he said.

Making Rosettes Around the Holidays

Around the holidays, homemade treats are everywhere — whether it be Christmas cookies, gingerbread houses or fruit cakes. One Swiss holiday tradition involves making Rosettes — light, crispy, deep-fried pastries made using a floral-shaped iron mold.

Head chef at Lost Creek Farms, Mike Costello, recently inherited a rosette iron from his Helvetian ancestors. He shared the process of making the pastries with West Virginia Public Broadcasting

“I’ve heard a lot of people refer to it as a lighter version of a funnel cake,” Costello said. “A little bit crispier, lighter —these rosettes are pretty delicate when you pull them out of the oil. They look like they might be more robust, but that’s because the fins of the iron are kind of hollow. I’s a really kind of delicate pastry.”

Mike Costello at his farm in Lost Creek. He recently inherited a traditional Swiss rosette iron.

The rosette iron is similar to a branding iron, although much more delicate. The base is metal, floral shaped — it’s the part that is actually dipped into the batter and oil. The handle sticks vertically out of the cookie cutter-like mold.

Costello said the rosette can be traced back to many different immigrant cultures.

“I think rosettes were pretty common, especially in this part of Appalachia because you had so many immigrants coming not just from Switzerland, but Austria and Hungary, and also other places that you see rosette tradition show up around the holidays,” he said.

Costello’s rosette iron was gifted to him last Christmas. It likely was passed down from his Swiss great-grandmother, Flora. She immigrated to Helvetia when she was six years old.

“I got really exicted, probably more excited than I should have been about this little metal floral shaped thing with a red handle.” Costello said. “To me it was much more than a tool, it was a piece of my past I’d been longing for. I knew there was this piece of my family’s history that was up in the mountains of Helvetia, and suddenly I have something tangible from that.”

Flora is somewhat of a mystery woman to Costello, as she passed away before her history could be fully documented.

Pictures of Costello’s family that lived in Helvetia, including his great-grandmother Flora (photos on right). It is likely the rosette iron came from Flora.

But in photos, one can see Flora standing with her cows, chickens and field crops. One thing Costello knows is Flora was an excellent farmer and cook.

“To have this piece of our heritage that if there was someone you could point to and say, ‘Who’s doing the farm-to-table the real deal way?’ Before it was cool, Flora was doing farm to table in Braxton County, West Virginia,” he said.

Using the rosette iron passed down to him, Costello can make the pastries that perhaps Flora once made.

Costello follows a traditional Helvetian recipe that makes around 50 rosettes; however, he typically halves it for smaller gatherings.

For the batter, Costello cracks three eggs and adds half-a-pint of half and half.

“You want to get the eggs and the cream pretty well beaten together,” he said. “Then I add about one cup of flour.”

He lightly whisks the ingredients together.

“What we’re looking for is for the batter to be pretty light,’ he said.

The batter should be smooth and light, more like a pancake batter than a cake batter. If not, one can add a little extra cream.

After mixing, Costello adds one secret ingredient.

“A little bourbon, just a little splash into the batter,” he said. “I honestly don’t know if I’ve noticed much of a difference. But it’s kind of fun to carry on. I’ve heard some folks say it makes it a little crispier. I’ll take it.”

Costello dips the rosette iron in the hot lard. It is important to keep the iron hot so the batter will slide of easily.

He then heats up lard in a skillet. Costello said you want the oil about the depth of the flower base on the iron.

“I’ve got my iron in this hot lard and I dip it in this batter and you can hear it adhere to the iron,” he said. “I’m trying to avoid it coming up over the iron so when I put it in , it slides right off like that.”

And in about 10 seconds the first rosette is completed.

The end result is a golden, crisp, airy pastry in the shape of a flower. It has eight petals that are hollow, which adds to the delicate intricacy of the finished pastry.

“You know when you get it right because you can hear the sizzle of the batter. That’s when you know it’s really sticking to it pretty well,” he said.

The process reminds Costello of making Christmas cookies as a kid. Although he never met his great-grandmother Flora, he spent many holidays in his grandmother Betty Williams’ kitchen.

“She had a little step stool that my brother and I would get on because we couldn’t reach the counter top. But, that’s a lot of what I think back to in terms of the holidays and tradition is being in that kitchen, and making those cookies, and wanting to keep that up in some way,” he said. “So now that she’s gone as well, this is kind of in a way satisfies that need to be a kid again in my grandma’s kitchen making cookies. It’s almost the same.”

In just a few minutes, there is a plate towering with dozens of rosettes.

“We’ve run out of room on the plate, and we still have a ton of batter left,” Costello said.

Rosettes are typically served sweet. So while they are still hot, Costello added several different sweet toppings.

The finished product. Rosettes are typically served sweet and can be garnished with various sugars.

“I’m gonna do a basic powdered sugar, and I’ll also do a cinnamon sugar mix,” he said. “I’ll have some with some sorghum, and one thing that goes pretty well with that sorghum is a little bit of this J.Q. Dickinson salt from the Charleston area.”

Costello actually grew the sorghum on his farm and hand pressed it into syrup. It adds an unexpected earthiness, while the salt marries all the flavors together.

The rosettes themselves are crispy and delicate, and the sweet topping simply melts in one’s mouth.

This story is part of Inside Appalachia’s holiday show which you can find here.

The Helvetian rosette recipe from the book, “Oppis Guel’s Vu Helvetia.” Half the recipe for about 25 rosettes.

European Traditions, W.Va. Twists – Making Grittibanz at Christmastime

In Helvetia, West Virginia, Christmastime, like all the town’s events, is a community affair. On the Saturday closest to the 5^th of December, the town celebrates their unique heritage with tales of Saint Nicholas, sweet treats, square dancing, a potluck dinner, and best of all… Swiss grittibanz, a special kind of holiday bread.

Hear this story on Inside Appalachia.

In the mountains of Randolph County, West Virginia, is the small Swiss-German town of Helvetia. This tiny, remote town is rich with Swiss-German tradition, including the Feast of Saint Nicholas held at the Helvetia Community Hall.

“We’re gathered here on the Feast of Saint Nicholas to think about generosity, because [Saint Nicholas] was a very generous person,” said local resident Eleanor Betler to a crowded dining room in the Community Hall, “And we carry that through by teaching, and we teach to make the grittibanz.”

Grittibanz is loosely translated to “doughboy,” and families often make them in Switzerland and Germany for the Feast of Saint Nicholas, which is held on the eve before Saint Nicholas Day on December 6^th.

It may be based off an old tradition, but the Feast of Saint Nicholas has only been held in Helvetia for the past 20 years.

It’s one of their smallest events during the year and averages about 25 to 30 attendees, but it’s no less a favorite for locals.

Making Grittibanz

Hours before the feast, locals prep the Community Hall for the festivities and the grittibanz. Anna Chandler stands over a large, silver mixing bowl and reads through the list of ingredients needed.

Anna may not be a local, but her father’s side of the family is from Helvetia. She lives in Morgantown and makes a point to attend local events like this one. Over the past three years, she’s been making the dough for the grittibanz with Eleanor’s guidance.

“This is the; it’s called Hebel; that’s the yeast dough,” Anna said. “So, this is like the starter, so you get it going first, so the yeast is active and going at it, and then you add it to everything else.”

After mixing in all the ingredients, Anna kneads the dough until it becomes soft, but still firm enough to mold and shape into bread people.

“First time I made this, or worked with anybody to make it, I thought it was gonna be a really sweet dough, like cinnamon roll dough; it’s not, it’s just a rich, cause it’s got the eggs and butter in it, yeast dough; it’s very straightforward,” she explained. “And when the kids get done decorating, we decorate with raisins and citron, and stuff like that, so it’s not sweet by any means, it’s just bread.”

Upstairs in the main room of the Community Hall, a small group of kids and their parents make Christmas crafts and play games together while they wait on the dough. Decorating the grittibanz with children is a big part of the tradition.

Back in the kitchen, Eleanor and Anna lay out baking sheets for each person, butter knives, and round, sticky dough balls for each child and parent to work with.

At the center of the table is a tray of flour, a couple bowls of egg wash, and dried fruit to use for decorating.

“Okay, so kind of take it from the sides and make him a neck, okay,” said Eleanor to the group of kids and their families. “And then make some shoulders and some arms.”

After everyone’s grittibanz is decorated, they’re left to rise for about 15 minutes, and then they’re ready to be baked.

Carrying On Tradition

Helvetia’s population has dropped dramatically over the decades as people have moved away for job opportunities and other reasons. Yet, Eleanor says she doesn’t think the town, or its traditions will ever disappear.

The annual events are unique and a big draw for visitors, she said, but also, many people who have family connections to Helvetia are proud of where they come from…and the events bring people home.

“Everybody does everything together, and I think that’s what keeps almost all of our traditions alive is that we do things as families and as community,” Eleanor said. “Church community; family community; community-community, and community and family mean everything to us here. Everything.”

Making grittibanz from scratch is just one aspect of Helvetia’s Feast of Saint Nicholas event. Residents also gather that day for a visit from Santa Claus, to hear the story of Saint Nick, a potluck dinner…and a community square dance.

War on Christmas…Really? 2018

It’s that time of year again when Trey’s Twitter and Facebook feed flare up with posts about a “War on Christmas.” Every year there’s hubbub over how saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” is TOO politically correct, or that a nativity scene doesn’t belong on government property. Christmas traditionalists feel there’s an attack on this sacred holiday. While secularists seem bothered that this religious holiday has a privileged place in a country known for its separation of church and state. For this (mostly fun) episode, Trey and historian Adam Laats ponder the nature of this so-called “war.”