Lincoln Chapel United Methodist Church Gallery

A Dagwood of a Sale

On a cool Thursday morning before the sun had decided to rise, a group of volunteers gathered to begin an adventure to make a sandwich. This would be no ordinary sandwich for even the name described a great undertaking…we were making THE DAGWOOD.

What exactly was a Dagwood sandwich and how could it possibly be made? Everyone had heard of a Dagwood, of course but no one could tell me what it was. To be sure the answer was eluding me.

That’s when I turned to the internet to find an answer to the question, “What is a Dagwood sandwich?” To my surprise I found the sandwich to be named after Dagwood Bumstead, right out of the comic strip. The only thing Dagwood could prepare in the kitchen was a mountainous pile of different leftovers precariously arranged between two slices of bread.

And so, I learned the origins of the sandwich. The answer to the next question, “What’s in it?”, is one that will be forever a secret. The Dagwood, I learned, was a sandwich put together to attain a tremendous size and had a variety of contents to stun the imagination, sight and stomach of all but the original maker. Alas, I found there is no specific list of ingredients, no specific secret sauce, just the imagination and taste of the creator of the sandwich and for Lincoln Chapel that was John Benfer.

My curiosity was triggered as I saw the list of ingredients presented by John and Helen and I wondered what that sandwich would look like. Arriving in the basement October 4^th, volunteers were greeted by a long table of rolls, meat, cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and more. Assembly line production was called for as sandwiches moved to each new station quicker than could have been imagined. Before the group of sixteen realized, sandwiches were packaged, orders were filled and awaiting delivery, all before 8:30 a.m.

The elusive Dagwood Sandwich…it looked like a sandwich, it felt like a sandwich but it didn’t taste like an ordinary sandwich. Many people were pleasantly surprised when the first taste of our “Dagwood” reached their taste buds. Over 400 sandwiches were sold with people telling us not to wait too long before making them again. I’m sure Dagwood would be pleased.