In a community that is uber-fitness conscious, you wouldn’t think Farragut would be a prime location for doughnuts. And yet now we have not one but two dueling donut dens.
In this case, it seems crullers outdo crunches.
The opening of Krispy Kreme in Farragut – now joining stalwart Dunkin’ Donuts in the local breakfast line-up – was quite the story last month. I’m sure the location of the eatery across the street from a Middle School/High School complex is no accident.
Anyway, the discussion of doughnuts was top of mind for most people as the recent school year came to a conclusion. I even took a half dozen to my mom and dad on Mother’s Day (Dunkin rather than Krispy) and the ensuing conversation invariably turned to my dad’s Army days.
According to his story, one of the real treats where he was stationed was when the donut man came to their post. My dad really liked the old fashioned cake-style of doughnuts they had on post. You can tell by the smile on his face that this small treat meant a lot compared to the regular chow or MREs they’d receive when they were on maneuvers.
And whenever he talks, nostalgically, about those tasty treats, I am reminded of the old Robert McCloskey children’s book, Homer Price. It was one of my favorites from childhood. And of course, one of the more famous short stories in that book was the one about the automated doughtnut machine.
When the folks camping outside Krispy Kreme before its Grand Opening spoke of unlimited doughnuts for a year, I thought about that story. I could envision the part of the tale when the automated doughtnut machine got stuck and kept cranking out one doughnut after another.
I can imagine Homer Simpson was a fan of Homer Price.
Back in my school days, there was a 16mm film depicting the Homer Price doughnut machine story. Seems like it was about 30 minutes long. Taking a break from our middle school studies to watch the Homer Price film was always a fun diversion. Homer Price was the most popular choice along with other perennial favorites, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce. There were 16mm films for each of those three stories and it seems like we saw each of them once a school year.
I’ve been looking for a copy of the Homer Price film on DVD via the internet over the years but I haven’t been able to locate a reasonably priced copy. So, in the meantime, I can just imagine the doughnuts rolling off the machine…or I can read about them in the book. Or I could ask my dad to tell me his Army story.
Of course, if I want a real unlimited doughnut supply, it would seem I have a couple near-by options.
JG
Originally posted 5/28/2013
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