Mary Belk: ‘If you give up, you die’

Pick a metaphor. Steel Magnolias, Sisterhood, Iron Jawed Angels, or the Magnificent Seven. Whichever one you choose, there’s one group in Auburn that fits the likeness.

They’re not sure how they started the weekly gathering for breakfast at Panera Bread. But for more than a year, they’ve been meeting and eating. And early on, the seven women realized there was a mission more important than having fun.

Grace Jones, one of the bunch, has been battling ovarian cancer for three years. Over muffins, she told the others about the lack of research money for this kind of cancer. Told them ovarian cancer is one of the five leading causes of cancer death in American woman. Each year more than 20,000 women are diagnosed and about 15,000 of them die. As with most cancer, the chance of survival increases significantly if it’s found early.

Learning these daunting details led Grace’s friends to come up with a way to raise money for research, a cookbook crammed with favorite recipes.

The effort in putting this cookbook together was intense. Scratch the stereotypes. This is not a group of griping ego-centered dames like you might have the misfortune to watch on “The View.” In just a few months, they put their talents together to choose, type, and submit over 600 recipes to Morris Press. “Auburn Celebrates Life” is already back from the publisher in convenient hardback, notebook form. Dr. Woody Jones, Grace’s son, created the charming artwork on the cover.

The women, with their diverse strengths, shared the work. Betsy Judkins acted as business manager and planner. She called several organizations, and chose the University of Alabama at Birmingham medical center, because it was the only one that promised one hundred percent of the proceeds would go to finance research for ovarian cancer.

Lee Cannon, who’s written two best-selling cookbooks, was the official consultant. She had the final say on which recipes would go in the book.

But Jones is an experienced food columnist too. For several years, she wrote “Stuffed Tiger” for the Auburn Bulletin.

Emily Sparrow claims, “They’re all gourmet cooks.”

But says she “can’t even boil water.” So she did more than her share of typing.

Not long ago, Jones went to Albuquerque and flew in a hot-air balloon. “If you give up,” Grace explains, “you die.”

Thanks to Dean Elam’s publicity and a gala honoring Grace, the 700 pre-ordered cookbooks were sold, and 200 more are on the way. The party at Greystone Mansion was splendid with flowers arranged by Dell Chester and refreshments concocted by the circle-of-seven.

It just goes to show what a few friends with a mission can do. Anthropologist Margaret Mead said it best: “Never doubt a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Mary Belk lives in Auburn and writes a column for the Opelika-Auburn News.