Empty Bowls Fill MHS With Community Spirit

When the doors opened to the Merrimack High School cafeteria on Wednesday, for the bi-annual Empty Bowls supper put on by the National Art Honor Society, hundreds people formed a line that snaked back out of the cafe, up the ramp and down the hall toward the main office.

In in its fourth year, the long but fast-moving line was all but expected by Merrimack art teachers who say the community supper has become a highly-anticipated and well-attended event.

Preparations for the event began two years ago, following the 2010 event, when the high school art department's teachers and students began molding hand-made bowls to serve soup in, according to high school art teacher Shanna Gray.

“Every year we've done this we've sold out of bowls,” Gray said, adding that she expected this year's 350 bowls would be no exception.

Art teacher Marcy Pope who heads up the bowl-making project, said she collects bowls from her pottery class and students in the arts and crafts class make bowls as well. Additionally, she held workshops for district teachers to learn to make a fire a bowl and she did one for community members as well, making the supper a true community event.

Because of the size of the school's art department, and the amount of time it takes to make the number of bowls they need for the event, it would be too difficult to try to hold the event annually, Pope said. And she likes holding it as an opportunity to showcase the art department – between the bowls and the decorating of the cafeteria with other art projects for display and sale, like stained glass luminaries that were being sold for $5-$10 at the event.

The dinner, which consisted this year of approximately 15 different kinds of soup provided by local restaurants and some even made by Merrimack teachers, cost $12. Each year, it's an all you can eat meal, and after choosing a bowl to eat from and enjoying a meal, participants can have their bowl washed for them by a student and then they take it home.

The supper, which is part of an international awareness program, is meant to call attention to hunger and the money raised from the event is split between St. John Neumann, St. James United Methodist Church and Riverside Christian Church's food pantries.

Pope said they make about $3,000 a year so each agency ends up with about a $1,000.

Sponsored by the National Art Honor Society, the planning of the actual supper began at the beginning of the school year, said Sam, a senior.

He said the members of the NAHS are responsible for going out into the community to obtain soup donations from area restaurants. They had representation this year from Merrimack, Manchester Nashua and Bedford in their soup selection.

Sam said that was probably the hardest part of preparing for the event.

“We were told no by probably half the restaurants we approached,” he said.

Some of this year's soups included Italian sausage and kale, and lentil soup from potato leek soup from , vegetable soup from , Dallas County Jailhouse Chili and vegetable barley from Granite State Catering.

According to Gray, Texas Roadhouse came through for the group in a pinch Wednesday afternoon making 300 rolls to serve with the soup at around noon.

“This is just such a great adventure for the students,” high school Assistant Principal Cheryl Smith said, watching as people selected their bowls from the table, noting that there was concern they'd run out of bowls.

“It's just amazing to see the community support that comes out of this,” she said.

For first-time attendee Marion Pucel, who has a daughter in the NAHS, her first impression was expressed in one word.

“Wow,” she said.

Holding her bowl she looked around the room at the crowd of people and remarked that it was busier than she expected it would be. And she was highly impressed with the dinnerware.

“All of the bowls, they're all so pretty,” Pucel said.