Who remembers Carter Bars?

RAWSON — The Cory-Rawson SOS is on a mission to find some of the school's earlier recipes for Hornet dogs, potato fluff and Carter Bars. These will be included in a fundraising cookbook that is now in the works by the SOS (Supporting our Students, Supporting our Staff, Supporting our School) group, according to President Sara Augustine. "It's kind of like our version of a PTO," she said. The SOS is responsible for raising money and supplying all of the pre-kindergarten through sixth grade students with supplies for the year. So no student has to purchase any crayons, folders, paper, pencils or glue, she said. "The teachers give us a list of what they need and I think our treasurer said last year we spent about $5,600 on school supplies for the students. None of the elementary students had to bring anything except a backpack and a lunch pail," Augustine said. The most recent community cookbook dates back to 2009. Funds raised from that edition were used to replace the school's football bleachers. Some of the recipes people have been talking about are new to Augustine, who calls herself a "transplant," having graduated from Van Buren High School. Her husband attended Cory-Rawson, she said. "When Jim and I first started dating, his mom would make potato fluff, and I was like, 'what is this stuff?'" she recalled. Basically, it's like shepherd's pie, with ground beef, gravy and vegetables baked under a layer of mashed potatoes with cheese melted on top. "So there's all these things that I have no idea what they were, and especially Carter Bars," she said. Potato Fluff is still a regular menu item and served about once a month at Cory-Rawson, while Carter Bars are made only for special days, said Augustine. The no-bake bars are well known to Cory-Rawson students and date back to 1977 when Jimmy Carter was president and the public schools received free government commodities like cheese, peanut butter and peanut granules. Esther Spaeth attended Cory-Rawson and talked to several people to track down the history of the bars, including Brad Cox, who was superintendent at the time, and her husband, John, who was principal of the middle school and brought the recipe home. She also spoke to Nancy Thomas, the daughter of the late Thelma Bowersox, a cook at the school. Bowersox is credited with coming up with the recipe. The collective belief is that Bowersox made the first Carter Bars in large 18-by-24-inch pans. The original recipe, with ingredients measured in quarts and pounds, has been cut down for household use. The adapted recipe is made in a 13-by-9-inch pan. They also think the original Carter Bars were plain — sans the chocolate frosting. Spaeth took a first place ribbon at the Hancock County Fair with Carter Bars in 2014. Augustine said she made a post to see what people would want included in the cookbook. Teachers were notified as well. She also plans to talk with the cafeteria staff. A repetitive idea on a Cory-Rawson graduates' page is the shredded chicken sandwiches and the chicken and noodles that are served at the food tent operated by the Cory-Rawson Music and Athletic Boosters at the Hancock County Fair. "Those were recipes they wanted to see, too," Augustine said. "They're a fan favorite." People have also mentioned the Fiestadas. She said these resembled a Mexican pizza. Another comment referred to a special sauce that featured a combination of marinara and barbecue sauces. It was served with chicken nuggets. "Everything is made fresh at school and the kids all love it," said Augustine. "One of the moms made the comment, maybe if we did a cookbook my kids would eat at home." She's hoping that including some of the old recipes will make this cookbook even more special. "Maybe bringing up the old school recipes that people are used to from Cory, like Carter Bars, will give it a little bit of nostalgia," she said. The group plans to sell the cookbook in May. Anyone who has ideas and/or recipes connected with Cory-Rawson School can send an email to coryrawsonsos@gmail.com