"Good Neighbors on Delmarva ... Rollin' In The Dough"
By Lisa Spicer

Who knew that sweet potatoes are as good as gold? Lynette Kenney sure did. She.s been up to her elbows in sweet potatoes for several years now.

“It.s become a yearly tradition for me.”
And that tradition is paying off! The annual Sweet Potato Biscuit sale began back in 1980 at Nelsons Memorial Church in Hebron.

“ Kathleen Adkins oversaw the .rst one in 1980 to raise money for an addition to the church,” Lynette recalled. They used 10 bushels of sweet potatoes and raised $800.

The tradition grew every year. In fact, the only reason the church members stopped making sweet potato biscuits a few years ago was because too many people wanted sweet potato biscuits! That.s right, the demand was bigger than they could handle in the church basement. They were going through 100 bushels of sweet potatoes to peel, boil, strain, mix, and pound out over 30 thousand biscuits!

Then came a challenge church member Lynette Kenney couldn.t pass up. Salisbury Christian School asked all the churches in the area to support the school as it tried to raise money for a new building.

“We decided that if school families would support the sweet potato biscuit sale by buying sweet potato biscuits, we would support the school by making the biscuits and giving the proceeds to the new building.”
Lynette didn.t realize how many people would rush to get their hands on a box of the tastiest sweet potato biscuits in the area! With a look that has a hint of panic, Lynette oversees the operation.
“We sold three thousand nine hundred boxes this year!” With a dozen biscuits in each box, that adds up to over 45 thousand biscuits!

To help make it all happen around 50 people work elbow to elbow in the church kitchen. The boilers stand over steaming vats of potatoes, which are turned over to the strainer team. Then the mixers, rollers, cutters and boxers dig in to make a tidy box of treats. And you can.t forget the dishwashers who are up to their elbows in suds, and the drivers, who race dozens of boxes to their .nal destination.

“Not all these people attend our church. People are here from all over. They just like it. Neighbors bring neighbors; it.s like an old-fashioned quilting bee. You can.t .nd that fellowship anymore.”

With checklist in hand, Lynette tries to get each box to its destination on time.
“The distribution is the toughest. We get orders from Salisbury Christian School plus other local schools. Peninsula Regional Medical Center orders a lot of biscuits. On the day of production orders are still being called in!”

By now however......the last order from this year.s sweet potato biscuit drive has been taken, the last box has been delivered, and the last morsel has been tasted. Unless, of course, you were one of the smart ones who ordered extra boxes and froze them! Then you and Lynette both know how sweet it is to be a Good Neighbor on Delmarva.