Aug. 6 Old Trail Inn dinner sold out, 2nd seating added

Apparently a taste of the past is still fresh in the memory of many Putnam County people. For an Aug. 6 Putnam County Museum event reliving Sunday dinner at the Old Trail Inn has been sold out.

But don’t despair if that turn of events has left you hankering for swiss steak and sweet rolls because a second museum Old Trail dinner has been scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 10, also beginning at 1 p.m.

Reservations for dinner are $20 per person, available at the museum, 1105 N. Jackson St., Greencastle, and Myers’ Market in Greencastle.

Catered by Myers’ Market -- using original Old Trail Inn recipes found handwritten on the backs of old menus -- the family-style menu will include relish tray, appetizer juice, sweet rolls, swiss steak, chicken and dumplings, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, seasoned green beans and other Old Trail Inn side dishes and desserts.

The swiss steak recipe, museum Executive Director Lisa Mock noted, was provided by retired Greencastle firefighter and building inspector Dave Varvel, whose grandfather Curly was a cook at the inn and created the recipe.

“This all started with Malcolm (museum board member Romine) wanting to do an exhibit on the inn,” Mock said of the restaurant along old U.S. 40 that burned in 1973.

“The museum has been fortunate,” she said, “in acquiring original Old Trail Inn recipes,” which the Myers family has tested. “Now, it’s your turn to take a trip down memory lane or make new memories of good times and great food.”

People who tried the swiss steak and sweet rolls at a recent Myers-catered event reportedly said “they tasted exactly as they remembered them,” Mock reported.

Seating is limited to 80, and it is anticipated tickets will again go fast. Tickets for Sept. 10 are available at the museum and from Myers’ Market.

The event is a fundraiser for the Putnam County Museum. For more information, persons may call the museum at 653-8419.