Woodbury Daily Time, 1959

"The eating treat of the summer season in South Jersey will take place Saturday, August 15, (1959) rain or shine, starting at 5 P.M. on the parsonage grounds, when plump tender chicken (barbecued before your eyes) will be served with all the fresh, Jersey corn you can hold...on the cob and dripping with melted butter.  This will be topped off with a wide selection of homemade cake from the country kitchens of Cross Keys.

Adults may enjoy this country feast for $1.25, children under 12 for 75 cents and the proceeds from the harvest will help Cross Keys Methodist Church meet its current obligations."

So a 45 year tradition was started.  The current date of the first Saturday has been successfully used for about 40 years, always keeping the same date has insured a consistency and thankfully fair weather.  There are very few rainy days over the years that have been troublesome enough to move indoors.  If it plans to rain, it comes early in the morning before set-up time or after dark when clean up is just about over.  That first year 250 were fed and they made a profit of $200.  The "Cook Out" as the event is known, has helped with the finances over the years and currently the profits have been designated for the New Facility Fund.  The affair takes many hands to make it work.  Many of the original workers are long gone from the community but ask the Jennings, Lathrop, Dilks, or Abel families and you will find those who have kept the "Cook Out" alive and doing well over the past 45 years.  Not that there weren't many times it seemed it would be better to donate the price you would pay for a dinner and save all the work, from the setting up of tables, husking the corn, cooking on the outdoor barbecue and in the church kitchen, just to name a few of the many jobs.  But they were voted down, someone would volunteer to be chairperson and the first Saturday in August is traditionally part of the church calendar.  The church becomes a community and some people who have moved else where return to Cross Keys Church because it was part of their heritage at the "Country Church."

Plan to join with the people that make this happen, they could use your help...and/or your patronage.  Be a part of the history of our church family on AUGUST 2, 2003...45 years, 1959-2003!