Funnel Cake Stand Survives Category F4 Tornado
Ask anyone within 50 miles of Norfolk, Nebraska where to go for the best funnel cake in town and youâll hear the same answer:Â  âGo to Meemaw Janeâs.Â  Her funnel cake is out of this world!âSadly, never a truer word was spoken, as mourners gathered at the former site of Meemaw Janeâs cake stand, the only structure left intact after a massive F4 tornado destroyed the townâs landscape, wiping out an entire community in an instant.âIt happened so fast,â said âMeemawâsâ daughter,Â Barbara Treen.Â  One minute it was bright and sunny, then all of a sudden, the clouds moved in, and just like all the people say on The Weather Channel, it sounded like a freight train right on top of the house â hailstones as big as my shoe, thunder and lightning.Â  Thatâs the last thing I remember.ââMeemaw Jane TreenâsÂ funnel cakes sent more of this townâsÂ young peopleÂ to college than I can count on both hands,â said Norfolk Mayor Sue Fuchtman, as she placed a bouquet of flowers in the stainless steel fry cooker beside the Formica counter where Meemaw once proudly served.Â  âMeemaw Jane donated so much of her proceeds to an educational fund for children wishing to study fairground culinary arts.ââShe hung on until the last customer got their cake,â recalled daughter Barbara.Â  I started to pack up because the sky was getting dark.Â  I told her âTurn off the oil and close up Meemaw,â but she wouldnât do it.Â  There were still 2 customers waiting and she never let a customer go home empty handed. Thatâs the last thing I heard her say:Â  âI never let a customer go home empty handed.â Â And then, up she went.âThe tornado swept through town with less than a momentâs warning.âNext thing I knew,â said Barbara, âI woke up in the parking lot under a pile of debris.Â  I kept screaming âWhereâs Meemaw?Â  Whereâs Meemawâ but no one answered me.Â  I knew she was gone.âMeemaw Jane embodied the American success story.Â  Originally from Denmark, Treen arrived in America with only a recipe, a dream, and fifty cents to her name.Â  She settled in this small Nebraska town, set up shop, and became a local legend.âMeemaw Janeâs legacy will live on for generations,â said Mayor Fuchtman.Â  âMany of us took her classes â cotton candy making, toffee apple wrapping, meat on a stick â she was an inspiration to us all and we thank her for her service.Â  Do you remember when the Food Network people came out to interview her just three short years ago?â asked the mayor.Â  âI certainly do!Â  That put us on the map and itâs just so sad.âMeemawâs bruised and battered remains were located 30 yards from her cake stand,Â flung atop an upturned recycling bin â her twisted and curled frame ironicallyÂ resembling the shape of the thousands of funnel cakes she so tenderly prepared. Â The whereabouts of her last 2 customersÂ are unknown.âI didnât even recognize her. Â Then I saw the apron,â said her daughter, through tears.Â  âShe was all coiled up with powdered sugar in her hair, just like an angel.Â  She had a sweet little smile on her face. Â I covered her with the apron âtil until the ambulance came. Â I bought her that silly apron and she just laughed and laughed,â said Treen, sobbing uncontrollably.Â  âShe wore it all the time.Â  All the time.ââWe will rebuild,â said Mayor Fuchtman, and this funnel cake stand will be the new center of town!Â  This spot shall be known from this day forward as The Meemaw Jane Memorial Cake Square,â she declared, her voice drowned out over the cheers and applause of the crowd.Â  âWe owe it to her! Â She will be missed!âTreen vows to carry on the tradition that her mother began nearly 50 years ago.Â  Addressing the crowd she said:Â  âWeâre going to get back out there and do what Meemaw would want us to do!âÂ  I promise you, the minute I get this back brace off, Iâm going to stand tall, fire up some oil and get to frying!âA makeshift flag pole was erected, Meemawâs apron attached by its strings, flying at half-mast and waving in the gentle breeze â its message easing the pain felt by many.Â  âLife Is Short â Eat Dessert Firstâ it proudly proclaims, a fitting tribute to a townâs unforgettable and much lovedÂ Danish heroine.