The summer when Mary Emma Showalter’s now classic “” was released in 1950, various college students sold the cookbook as a way to make money for their college expenses.

Eugene Souder was one such entrepreneur who had about 15 young women and men selling cookbooks under his loosely organized effort.

He says the John C. Winston Company (publishers in conjunction with the early “Mennonite Community Association” in Scottdale, Pennsylvania) put out a notice that they were looking for someone to round up students who could sell the cookbook to acquaintances, church members, friends or neighbors—and perhaps door-to-door.

“I don’t think I saw that initial notice put out for sales reps, but someone recommended me. So they came recruiting me,” recalled Eugene in a phone interview recently.

“It was simple—I had one or two meetings of interested persons at Eastern Mennonite College, inviting them to earn some extra money that summer,” said Eugene, who at the time was between his junior and senior years of college.  “It was fun to recruit. That was basically all I had to do. I got a commission off of each sale, and the total that year was enough to cover my expenses for my final year of college.” Eugene added that he didn’t sell more than five himself, and that there were more women than men selling the cookbook.

Dan Hertzler, a classmate of Eugene’s and former editor of Gospel Herald, recalls that a year at EMC at the time cost $550, with a $100 discount for Bible majors. While Dan was later connected with the Mennonite Community Association and has long been associated with Scottdale, Dan didn’t help sell the cookbooks.

Eugene confesses he didn’t sell many himself because he was heavily involved in a budding men’s quartet at EMC that went on to help launch the long running radio program in 1952, which led to the whole international Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc.  organization—(which eventually became Mennonite Media, which joined with Mennonite Publishing Network to form MennoMedia in 2011.)

“So that summer of 1950, I didn’t really have that much time to actually sell; I was surprised at the good return for my time,” Eugene says. The cookbook initially cost $3.50 for the plain edition; a deluxe “chapter tab” edition was $4.50. “They were very fair in the commission they paid me.”

Eugene went on to a long career as a pastor, graphic designer, and founder/editor of at least three church magazines: Our Faith, Together, and [the only magazine still in publication, under the editorship of article author Melodie Davis].

Jay B. Landis, a former professor in the English language and literature department at EMC, also sold the cookbooks. But neither Jay nor Eugene remember it being through Eugene’s circle of sellers. “I sold a few—maybe to my mother and a few others,” Jay confesses. Jay was just out of high school and working a full-time job to make money for college, so his involvement was definitely limited.

Jay and his wife Peggy now live in the home where Mary Emma and her eventual husband, Ira Eby, lived in Harrisonburg. When Peggy was an officer of the Auxiliary, she offered a dinner for their annual auction: a meal at their home with recipes cooked from Mary Emma Showalter’s cookbook, including the famous seven sweets and seven sours.

“Some of Mary Emma’s nieces and nephews were the eventual recipients of the dinner, and during the course of the evening, we read several of the essays Mary Emma included at the beginning of each chapter of the book,” Jay recalls.

Eugene summarized his experience of earning enough money for a whole year of college as “the easiest money I ever made. Sometimes it is surprising what good things come your way.” Like other students of his time, he graduated debt free.

Republished from the website with permission from the author, who says she would love to hear from any other cookbook sellers. Visit the cookbook’s website for contact information.

John L. Horst, Ted Grimsrud and Jim Bishop produce and host weekly programs on public radio station WEMC, 91.7 FM. They do it on a volunteer basis because they believe there are sufficient numbers of people hankering for their special brands of music.

And, while they acknowledge that their programs appeal to a “niche market,” they get enthusiastic listener response to shore up their conviction.

“Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Cappella”

John Horst

Horst, a retired physics professor at EMU, hosts “Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Cappella,” 8-9:30 a.m. Sundays. He plays blocks of, as the program suggests, mostly unaccompanied sacred choral music by local and nationally-known artists and groups.

Horst draws from years of musical experience, which included singing with the former “Mennonite Hour” radio broadcast’s chorus and male quartet in the mid-1950’s to the mid 1960’s as well as composing. Music from the 15 CD reissues of Classic Mennonite Hour singing often appears on the program.

Listeners on a given Sunday morning may hear groups ranging from local favorites such as the the Eastern Mennonite High School Touring Choir, the EMU Chamber Singers, the Shenandoah Valley Men’s Chorus, the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir and local composers Jim Clemens and Brad Lehman. A sampling of contrasting music outside the Mennonite tradition is usually part of each program.

“Friday Night Jukebox”

Jim Bishop

Bishop, who dubs himself a “hopeless nostalgic,” dishes up an hour of dusty discs from the decade of the 1950’s, the “Friday Night Jukebox,” 8-9 p.m. Fridays. The show features straight-ahead rock and roll, street-corner doo-wop harmonies, top ten instrumentals, off-the- wall novelties and sock hop specials with artists as diverse as Chuck Berry, Perry Como, the McQuire Sisters, Marty Robbins, Duane Eddy and Little Richard who shared the charts during this era.

The last 15 minutes of the show every week is devoted to unabashedly romantic tunes to watch the submarine races by. Requests and dedications are welcomed by calling 432-4211.

Bishop also teams up with WSVA radio personality Jim Britt for the monthly “Warped Records Show,” a two-hour montage of, as the title suggests, weird, wacky tunes that were once stables of radio but today don’t “fit” any station genre, 10 a.m.-noon, usually on Thursday. The show will feature warped holiday tunes twice in December – on the 8th and 23rd of the month.

“I’m not aware of any commercial radio station anywhere doing a program like this one,” Bishop notes. “Even WSVA doesn’t know what to make of the avid listener response.”

“Wavelength”

Ted Grimsrud

Rumor has it that if Ted Grimsrud’s CD collection was laid end-to-end, it would stretch from Harrisonburg to Hinton – maybe even Rawley Springs.

Dr. Grimsrud, professor of Bible and religion at EMU and – yes, he’s a rockin’ jock PhD – is host of “Wavelength,” 3-6 p.m. Saturdays. He modestly describes the program as “music from the intersection of country, folk, rock and roll, blues and gospel.”

On any given week, one might hear Waylon and Willie, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and the Beatles followed by the Everly Brothers, Bruce Cockburn, Nina Simeone and Los Lobos – and it “seams” to work.

The Bible prof-music buff even manages a “Wavelength” blog at

About WEMC and WMRA

WEMC, Virginia’s oldest public radio station, founded in 1955, is owned by ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř but now managed by the staff of James Madison University’s public radio station, WMRA. WEMC operates out of WMRA’s studios at Cantrell Ave. The station can be heard on-line at .

A retired ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř faculty member is working to keep alive a rich musical legacy.

John L. Horst, Jr., professor emeritus of physics at EMU, hosts a weekly program, “Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Cappella,” 8-9:30 a.m. Sundays. The show repeats 10:30 a.m. to noon on the university’s public radio station, .

The four-part, a cappella singing that is part of the heritage of worship in Mennonite congregations is featured on his 90 minute program. Horst draws from a variety of sources, inter-Mennonite and beyond, in selecting material to feature.

Horst, who taught at EMU from 1967 to 2004, sang bass from 1956 to 1963 as a member of one of the original “Mennonite Hour” quartets. The group recorded regularly for the radio broadcast and also toured the country with speaker B. Charles Hostetter to promote the program.

The “Mennonite Hour,” produced by Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media) based in Harrisonburg, started the program in 1952. Distribution peaked at more than 140 stations across North America in the early 1960’s. In 1965, the program was shortened to 15 minutes with less music, and in 1978 it went off the air.

“With the exception of [the late] EMU professors J. Mark Stauffer and Earl Maust, the singers in the 1950’s era were all dedicated amateurs from many walks of live in the greater Harrisonburg community,” Horst said. “However, all of them were well-schooled in the traditional Mennonite art of unaccompanied, four-part harmony singing.

“The singing was unpretentious, direct and committed to communicating the Gospel message,” he said. “The distinctive ‘Mennonite Hour’ sound was unmistakable – simple arrangements, solid harmony and clear diction.”

Horst noted that a recording studio built by Richard Weaver on S. College Ave. – converted from a chicken house in 1954 – “provided an excellent environment for good a cappella singing. In the 1950’s, a single, well-placed microphone was used with limited electronic processing.”

After Maust and Stauffer, leadership in the ‘second era’ of the 1960’s came from Marvin Miller, David Seitz and David Augsburger, Horst pointed out, adding: “The singing and sound is noticeably different, with stereo added in this period.” Augsburger went on to succeed B. Charles Hostetter as “Mennonite Hour” speaker.

In 1999, Horst began delving into the Mennonite Media archives and found himself reviewing archival tape recordings that were used on the “Mennonite Hour” broadcasts. He has since produced five compact disc reissues of hymns, gospel selections, folk hymns, spirituals and choral works, including two just-released recordings. Mennonite Media had released six CD’s on their own earlier.

The first of two new recordings, “Sing Them Over Again,” is a compilation of 27 original a cappella recordings by the “Mennonite Hour Singers from the early era, the decade of the the 1950’s.

A second collection, “A Symphony of Hymns,” employs the movements of a classical symphony – prelude, exposition, adagio, scherzo and finale – as a framework to present 26 songs of the church. These selections feature the music groups from the decade of the 1960’s.

“It was an honor to listen to and critique the rich ‘Mennonite Hour’ archive of about 900 acappella hymns and anthems,” Horst said. “It has been a pleasant journey . . . ‘This All My Song Shall Be.'”

For more information on Horst’s a cappella project and available recordings, see or call (800) 999-3534.

A professor emeritus of music at Eastern Mennonite University died Mar. 14, 2004, at Menno-Haven Retirement Community in Chambersburg, Pa.

J. Mark Stauffer, 85, taught music courses and led choirs at EMU from 1939 to 1976. He had been a chaplain at Menno-Haven and Mennonite Village in Chambersburg where he resided since 1979.

Many will remember Stauffer for his leadership in the choral music program and especially as director of the traditional alumni rendition of “The Holy City” by A. R. Gaul during annual homecoming weekend.

The Altoona, Pa., native was choral director for seven years of the former “Mennonite Hour” radio broadcasts produced by Mennonite Media. He was pastor of the Charlottesville Mennonite Church, 1961-77, and chaplain of the Cedars and the Towers nursing facilities in Charlottesville during that same time period.

He completed a two-year program at the former Eastern Mennonite College and earned a B.S. degree from Madison College (now James Madison University). He attended Julliard School of Music in New York City and received his MA degree from George Peabody College, Nashville, Tenn.

J. Mark’s grandson, EMU sophomore Michael Stauffer, is currently with the cross-cultural group in the Middle East. Grandson Hunter Hess is a student at Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

His wife, Eva Hostetter Stauffer, a Denbigh, Va., native, died Feb. 25, 1997. They were married Dec. 24, 1939.

Survivors include a son, Dr. John Stauffer of New Market, Va.; two daughters, Margaret Corle of Lancaster, Pa.; and Evelyn Baer of Hagerstown, Md.; a sister Margaret Alger of Dayton, Va.; a brother, James K. Stauffer of Harrisonburg; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial service was held Mar. 27 at Park View Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg. Interment is at Lindale Mennonite Church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to EMU, 1200 Park Road, Harrisonburg, Va. 22802 or Menno Haven, Inc., 1217 Arbor Ridge, Chambersburg, Pa. 17201.

(Mennonite Mission Network)