Leah Mulholland, 12,at her first Irish potato rolling.
Diane Driscoll warned me. “After breathing the cinnamon for a while, you get a little crazy,” she said, leaning across a table that was liberally dusted with the spice.
Donna Donnelly, her hands moving at light speed as she rolled the confectioner sugar and cream cheese concoction that would soon be an Irish potato, took no time to snap back, “It’s not the cinnamon, Diane!”
It might be the cinnamon. This was my second year with the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Div. 87 in Port Richmond, helping make the 2,000 pounds of Irish potatoes they sell as their main fundraiser for the year. And it was as crazy and funny as the first time.
Many of the volunteers had been rolling potatoes all week, dropping into bed at night, their backs, necks, arms, and hands aching, with visions of tiny little balls plopped in a sea of cinnamon the last thing they saw when they closed their eyes. The goal was to make 2,000 pounds of the candies. That’s a ton. A person could be forgiven a little nuttiness.
Donna Donnelly, whom the rest of the women refer to as “the ball Nazi,” hustled, cajoled, bullied, threatened, and, occasionally even encouraged her workers to “just keep rolling.” At one point, she went from table to table with soft pretzels and let people take bites, exhorting them, “Don’t stop rolling! The only reason to stop is death. Yours.”
But it’s all for a good cause. In fact, it’s for lots of good causes, from the Columban priests and nuns to Providence House, a local organization that shelters abused women and children.
Check out our photos and video. Once you see how much fun it is, you’ll want to roll with the ladies (and a few gents!) next year. I know I do.
