This weeks group includes, from left Paul Finley, Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert, Tom Westeroff, Shari Benyousky, Jeff Owens and Sheriff Jim Smith.

By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: This is the 23rd column in the Dives and Diners series in which a small group of Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members and their guests road trip to explore the restaurants of Kosciusko and the surrounding area.

WARSAW — To celebrate the beginning of school, we invited some extra-special wildcards to this week’s Diners and Dives at The Red Apple Pancake House in Warsaw located at 2616 Sheldon Drive (just a little north of Walmart on a side road). “You say extra-special to ALL of the wildcards, don’t you?” smiled wildcard No. 1 Tom Westeroff who was with us as a representative of the school board.

“How’s it going as a school board member?” I greeted Westeroff who was elected almost a year ago.

Westeroff smiled an infectious grin. “I love it! But I think it’s one of those positions that takes a few years to really know what you’re doing.” Tom has two kids in the Warsaw Public Schools and clearly adores them.” I’m still learning.”

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree

Rred Apple Chef welcomes you with a stack of pancakes.

Wildcard No. 2, Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert, arrived with greetings and smiles for everyone. The Hofferts just dropped their oldest son Ryun off to start college. Since I also dropped my youngest off to college on Saturday, we discussed the boys for a moment.

“They’ll be in a good place,” Hoffert reassured me. “So will we. In fact, the last time we tried to facetime with Ryun at college, he was too busy to talk!”

Our waitress Karina patiently waited for us to finish introducing everyone around the table so she could get drink orders and tell us about the lunch specials. The Red Apple wasn’t packed when we arrived on a Friday at noon, but she had several tables to serve.

The Red Apple Pancake House has always been packed when I’ve eaten there for breakfast, but it’s worth considering for lunch too.

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

We even had a rare visit from Optimist and Sheriff Jim Smith who joined us in uniform.

“Hey!” He shook everyone’s hands vigorously. Smith is a 2000 graduate of Warsaw Community High School and a huge supporter of education. In fact, he informed us, Warsaw Schools recently reached an agreement with the Sheriff’s Office to add two more SROs (School Resource Officers) to work directly in the schools.

“This is a huge help to us,” Hoffert scanned the menu while he talked. “We have SROs in Claypool, at Madison and Leesburg now.” Having the SROs in the schools helps with the focus on safety issues and protects against outside threats.

“We have an awesome team,” Smith nodded. Smith seems to know everyone he meets. He knew Westeroff from long ago working together at Burch Vending where they filled trucks and vending machines.

You’re Talking Apples Vs. Oranges

A frequent question from wildcards we invite is how we define a “diner” or a “dive”. As you can tell, our definitions are somewhat elastic.

Menu stack.

Westeroff (also known as HoochandNosh beach bum and Culture Captain) reviews restaurants on his blog (here’s an example of a recent one), so we asked him his definition first. “Well,” Culture Captain Westeroff ruminated, “I LOVE dives. I feel like a dive must have a kind of ambiance. Like, when I’m in a dive, I think, if only the walls could talk in here!”

Hoffert nodded. “We aren’t exactly foodies, but when you walk out of a diner or a dive, you should be satisfied, right? With both the people and the food.”

REMAX Jeff put in his theory. “Now you’re stepping all over my territory, my soapbox. I say that dives should involve some sort of risk. If there’s no risk, it just isn’t a dive.” Hoffert frowned. “Well, it’s risky to order soup before a sandwich. That’s a real risk. One never knows how soup will taste.”

“Or if the soup will get all over your suit,” I added.

Smith leaned in. “Look, both diners and dives need to involve fried food. To be a diner or a dive, something on your plate HAS to be fried.”

Waitress Karina offered us both soup and fried food, but REMAX Jeff wasn’t satisfied that this involved enough risk. “This is a curiosity question for myself,” He told her as she wrote down his order. “Please bring me a surprise.” He put up a hand as she started to ask a question. “Don’t tell me anything. Just bring me what’s good.”

I chuckled. “Sure. Me too. Bring me something too. A risk if you will.”

Hoffert put down his menu and turned to Karina. “I’ll take the soup. And then the Club Sandwich.”

Apple of My Eye

Empty chicken tortilla soup bowl. Photo courtesy of Jeff Owens.

We all slurped bowls of delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup. It was thick and cheesy with crunchy chips and piles of cheese on top. We say that it would be a risk for you NOT to order the soup at the Red Apple. Soon the bowls all sat empty and we moved into our sandwiches. REMAX Jeff’s surprise was an enormous steak quesadilla and mine was a French Dip Sandwich complete with Juice to dip and pepperoncini peppers. I ate everything and contemplated slurping the leftover juice. The others had club sandwiches, taco salads, and fried chicken wraps. “I ordered no tomatoes,” Westeroff said happily. “And they got it right.”

“So how are the schools doing now that school has started?” Prominent Local 1 st Source Banker Paul Finley asked Hoffert as he attempted to keep his ham and cheese club sandwich together.

Hoffert smiled. “We’ve worked really hard, and we are 100% full with teachers and staff.” He paused. “But we do have some needs for bus drivers and substitute teachers. Maybe some food service too. Anyone want to volunteer?”

Culture Captain Westeroff added. “We have $2,000 sign-up bonuses for bus drivers, and we’ll teach you how to get a CDL license too.” For details on that bonus, click here.

It’s Better To Find A Whole Worm In Your Apple Than Half A Worm

Sheriff Jim Smith and Tom Westeroff worked together at Burch long ago.

Finley pursued the idea. “We have noticed how hard it is to find good help in several areas. As Optimist Club members, we notice how many service clubs are having the same trouble. People are getting older and new members are harder to find.”

Hoffert pursed his lips. “Some of our clubs at the high school offer experience. The service training is embedded in what they do. We do agree that community service is important.”

Smith nodded agreement. His department has experienced this decline in people who want to be officers as well.

Hoffert went on. “Lots of people don’t know this, but we’ve experienced almost a 25% drop in birth rate here in Kosciusko. That’s obscured a bit because we have lots of new people moving into town. But back in 2008 people averaged 2.5 kids and now it’s only 1.7. That’s a big issue for the future.”

Don’t Upset The Applecart

The good-natured banter paused at the serious news. Hoffert paused. “Is there anything you need from us? Any questions we should talk about before we end?”

“Actually, there is something very important,” I said. “We want to invite Mayor-elect Jeff Grose to join us at a Diners and Dives, but we need your help.” I held my palms up. “Dines and Dives is at lunchtime and Mr. Grose is busy teaching students at the High School during that period.”

Hoffert whipped out a pen. After a minute he held up a napkin that read: “Mr. Grose can have a pass to the next Diners & Dives article. Dr. Hoffert.” We have a cool superintendent.

We’ll end with a shout out to the amazing Warsaw Community Schools, the Kosciusko Sheriff’s Department, and to the entire Government of K-County both now and in the future. Happy Eating!

TIP – If YOU would like to participate more in a service club, one EASY way is to purchase a Fall Display of pumpkins, gourds, corn shocks, and hay bales from the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club and your money will make it back into the community to help kids. Click here.