BUTLER COUNTY BEGINNINGS Glenn Moody, the generous chef

BY ANNIE CRENSHAW

 

The Moodys operated dining establishments in different locations over the years, including not only the famous Steak House, but the Rainbow Café and Moody’s Cafeteria.

Glenn was an enterprising businessman, a man who wore many hats and was popular in every venue.

He and his wife were not only known for their chicken brissil, but also for fried chicken and steak. After all, it was The “Steak” House, wasn’t it? Those were excellent steaks!

Another much-praised item was Glenn Moody’s camp stew. In 1959, his stew was sold for one dollar a quart, to benefit the local school PTO. That’s the Parent Teacher Organization, for those of you who may not have children and may not instantly recognize educational group acronyms.

Huge camp-stew cookings were often done with syrup kettles, as a 1962 news article showed us, with photos of Mack Pouncey and Glenn Moody at work as chefs. A boat paddle made a handy stew spoon when cooking in a three-to-four foot wide kettle, or so my older relatives declared.

My mother, Myra Ware Williams Crenshaw, passed down the recipe for “Mr. Wood Till’s Camp Stew to Feed One Hundred,” in case you want to try one of those types of culinary events yourself.

Needless to say, Mama noted: “This recipe takes all day to fix.”

The Moodys added a color television set to The Steak House in 1961 – a big crowd attraction.

Musical entertainments, dances, art shows, bingo games, club meetings, political dinners and parties of every kind… The Steak House was a hub of social and business activity, all accompanied by fine food and hometown hospitality.

Glenn Moody, the man who wore many hats, was serving a term as Butler County Sheriff at the time of his death in 1976.

Alabama State Representative Eric O. Cates described Moody’s term in office as “one of the most progressive and productive two-and-one-half years the department has ever experienced.”

During his term as sheriff, Glenn Moody “added a sub-station in Georgiana, more than doubled the rolling stock and the department’s personnel, upgraded the radio communications and provided around-the-clock availability of the sheriff’s office.”

Active pall bearers at his funeral were members of the Butler County Sheriff’s Department: Charlie Pouncey, Danny Joe Duke, Kenneth Flowers, Leavoy Blackburn, Lamar Grayson, Charlie Brown, and Linda Garlock.

Honorary pall bearers were Calvin Steindorff, Joby Bryan, Arthur Gamble, Rock Killough, Jessie Byrd, Bobbie Branum, Elisha Poole, Calvin Poole, John Andrews, Francis Wingard, Gladys Stanford, and Howard Haygood.

When Glenn’s wife Kana died in 2003, her obituary in The Montgomery Advertiser and other newspapers gave a warm tribute that was true of her husband as well as Kana herself:

“Mrs. Moody’s distinguished service to the Greenville Community included serving food to the local Civic Clubs for 45 years and operating Moody’s Steak House for 51 years. She was a woman who delighted in making people happy by feeding them good food.”

 

Learn more about Butler County history with membership in The Butler County Historical & Genealogical Society, P. O. Box 561, Greenville, AL 36037. Read more about Butler County’s beginnings here – http://sites.rootsweb.com/~albchgs/, and, look for us on Facebook.