Harmon Chicken Dinners Live Up To Remembered Reputation

Thursday night -- On the scheduled "boys night out", John Buchholz and Gordy Bischoff met at my house at 5PM for the trek over to the Durand Rod and Gun Club, high on the banks of the Red Cedar River, overlooking some of the prettiest scenery in the area.

Even though I felt we were arriving early, when we arrived the lot was filled to overflowing and the skeet shooters were already busy blasting away at clay pigeons.
We made our way through the crowd of mostly seniors -- look who's talking -- and paid for our tickets -- at $8.50 for all you can devour -- a real bargain these days -- and Gordy popped for the first round of Leinie's.

Since it was such a lovely evening, we took our beverages outside to watch the skeet shooters and visit. We knew it would be a good long while before our numbers: 351-353 would be called as just after we purchased our tickets, they called the first seating up to number 75.
If you are an impatient sort, you should plan on getting there no later than 4PM, I guess. I had forgotten how "seniors" always tend to arrive early at functions. But we were in no hurry as the three of us hadn't seen a lot of each other recently and there was much to catch up on.

All three of us ran into people that we know. Being from the Menomonie area originally, I visited with Larry and Janice Dahms -- former classmates of mine from high school -- and John ran into his former insurance agent and a fellow avid bicyclist.

We also recognized Charlie Lasker from Eau Claire's Lasker Jewelers and John Lammer from Lammer's Supermarket in Menomonie.
We noticed throughout the course of the evening that there were a lot of take outs -- full compliments of the dinners being toted off to reaches unknown.

After two leisurely beers -- I can't believe how poorly I can drink anything alcoholic anymore -- our numbers came up and we made out way into the dining area and joined all the folks you see in the shot here on the page.

I vowed I was going to eat very slowly and take in as much as I could and I managed to do that for - oh, I don't know -- until I got through that drumstick you see on my plate -- and then I was off to the races.

Everything was done perfectly. I had forgotten that they served baked beans. They were wonderful as were the biscuits that came in a bread loaf pan, the bottom of which were covered with chicken gravy with the biscuits being baked right on top of the gravy.

I also had forgotten how very good and vinegary the cole slaw is.

All three of us acquitted ourselves quite well, yours truly finally slowing to a stop after a drumstick, a thigh, a breast, four biscuits and gray, and milk and coffee.

Gordy teased the waitress about the lack of dessert -- she suggested the Dairy Queen in Durand and John suggested the Dairy Queen on Menomonie Street in Eau Claire as they serve a dilly bar peculiar to that stand alone -- a "heath bar crunch" dilly bar, so with the half hour drive giving our systems time to digest a bit, we made out way back on Highway C and finished off our evening with Dairy Queen running down the stick and onto our fingers.

A good time was had by all and it is a atrip that bears repeating several more times before October 30th!

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