While a church picnic has been a tradition at Ruhl's United Methodist Church for more than 100 years, the pandemic has caused the congregation to rethink its plans. The church had to cancel its picnic both last year and this year, but church members still wanted to serve the community, so they decided to offer their popular chicken corn soup to go. The soup will be available for pickup on Saturday, July 17, at the church's picnic grove, 2766 Newport Road, Manheim. Soup will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until sold out.

"It's our traditional recipe we've used at our church since we started having picnics," said Gail Ruhl, a member of the picnic committee. "People can bring their own containers, but we'll also have prepackaged containers of soup in quarts."

Ruhl has been involved in making the soup for decades. "I was taught how to make the rivels, and I've done that for the last 30 years," she stated, adding that her husband and daughters help out, as well. The committee cooks and prepares the chicken on the Thursday before the sale, and the sale day is a very early morning for the crew. "We start about 5:30 a.m.," Ruhl explained., and it's a good thing they do, because people begin lining up early in the morning to get their soup, she noted.

It also takes a village to serve soup to the community. "The soup sale is a church effort," Ruhl remarked. "Many volunteers get together to help and make this happen."

The church members hope to bring back the picnic next year, which typically includes a full day of music, games and fellowship, but they felt the soup sale was a way to ease back into community outreach. "We wanted to serve our community in a way that everyone would feel comfortable," Ruhl said. "Lots of people come every year, and we wanted to be there for them."

Proceeds from the soup sale are used to maintain the picnic grove, where the church will hold services on six Sundays in July and August.

For more information on the soup sale or church services, call the church at 717-665-3400 or visit http://www.ruhlschurch.org.