“Jeanie,” my husband Leonard said to me one morning. “I think you should go to coffee with me at Quick Shop today.”
My husband and I moved to Hydro in May, 2010. Leonard, known as Len or Pete, had quickly discovered the coffee mornings and afternoons that took place at Hydro’s Quick Shop Gas and Convenience store.
He continued, “There are several ladies who come and you could get acquainted with them.”
Although we had joined Pleasant View, a local church, it was in the country and few of its members lived in Hydro.
So I hadn’t learned to know many of the town ladies. I thought about what Len said and decided to go to coffee.
This was my first meeting with the group that would become the Hydro Hen House coffee group.
When I started going to coffee, we met on Friday mornings. There were usually only about half a dozen women there so we could all fit at the first table just inside the east door of Quick Shop. Some of the original coffee-drinkers included Irene Harris, Debbie McCullock, Ruth Mogg, Ethel Pankratz, June Reynolds and me.
Of course, things changed throughout the years. Our group continued to meet, but with new names and faces.
Some of the ladies who joined us were Mildred Chisholm, Beulah Switzer, Josie Slagell and Betty Piper.
After some time, the coffee day changed to Thursdays at 8 a.m., basically meeting after all the men had left. Our group had increased a lot so we moved to the double table in the back of the coffee area.
By now, our members included Jill Steward, Judy Thomason, Martha May, Betty Eakins, Myrt Cloniger and Cheryl Foster.
The men had hung a sign up that read “The Man Cave,” so my daughter, Dori Slagell, painted a picture of a hen for us to hang and that’s how the Hydro Hen House became official.
In the past two years the group has grown more and solidified into “regulars.” The basic crew included Betty Eakins, Cheryl Foster, my oldest daughter, Beverly Long, Martha May, Betty Piper, Jill Stewart, Judy Thomason and me.
Then lo and behold, we had more ladies who wanted to join us. Judy Wiggen, a Weatherford friend of Cheryl’s, comes as she can.
Bev recruited our youngest member, Jami Marais, who blessed us with a new baby girl—a “chicklet”—in December, 2021. Cheryl brought in another friend, Dorothy Gastineau, and Dori Slagell, my youngest daughter, became semi-retired so she also joined us. Not too long ago, Jami introduced us to Carol Anderson who joined us. Nowadays we could have as many as 12 ladies and three little girls crowded around the tables.
Not too long ago, we were given another sign. This was made by Misty Overton and is a beautiful wood engraving with a cute nesting hen and the words “Welcome to the Hen House.” We added this neat sign below the men’s sign, which incidentally was made by Misty’s father, Wiley Hall.
We try to celebrate everyone’s birthday ad dates work out. We often have delicious homemade snacks to go with Quick Shop’s great coffee. For over a year now, the coffee has been provided by the Hydro State Bank, with Vernon Grubb’s help. Also, with the increased price and scarcity of Styrofoam, Vicki Daigh, owner of the Quick Shop, had thermal mugs made with our names on them. It’s possible she may have done the same for the men. Once again, Misty showed her artistic streak by decorating and personalizing the mugs.
Our Hen House ladies have started taking group trips around the area. We always include a stop at a good restaurant. Last year, we visited Royalia’s Scrapbooking and Embroidery shop in Hinton.
Royalia was so impressed with our group she offered to make pins identifying us. We now all have pins with our logo and our name. WE are supposed to wear them to coffee or we are charged a quarter. How many times have I head, “I left it in my car,” as if that’s an excuse. Our little chicklet has a matching bib and she is so cute when she wears it.
I am sure there will be lots more changes in the future, but we are enjoying our Hydro Hen House coffee group every Thursday.