ST. JOHN’S PARRISH & PHIL ROOF

ST. JOHN’S PARRISH & PHIL ROOF

My husband & I attended the St. John’s Catholic Church’s Fish Fry last Friday with our good friends Mike & Yvonne Bosch and Bill & Barbara Gholson. The Fish Fry is one of several annual fundraisers done by the local Parrish’s Knight’s of Columbus & an activity the entire community looks forward too. The fish fry and the church’s annual picnic are major community events, where you go to visit friends, family, and get the best-fried fish in Western Kentucky. The Picnic held in August is a major political event that draws national, state, and regional politicians.

Located just south of Lone Oak & Paducah KY St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church was founded in 1839 by a group of German Catholic immigrants who had settled in Western Kentucky several years earlier and the picnic was started in 1930’s.

What does this have to do with the cookbook “Favorite Recipes of Kentucky Celebrities?” The church sold the cookbook as part of their picnic fundraiser last August and one of their members contributed his mother’s Blackberry Cobbler recipe.

St. John’s member Phil Roof was a catcher for the Milwaukee Braves (1961 and 1964), California Angels (1965), Cleveland Indians (1965), Kansas City Athletics/Oakland Athletics (1966-69), Milwaukee Brewers (1970-71), Minnesota Twins (1971-76), Chicago White Sox (1976) and Toronto Blue Jays (1977).

He is the brother of former Major League Baseball outfielder Gene Roof and the cousin of former MLB outfielder and manager Eddie Haas.

In 15 seasons he played in 857 Games and had 2,151 At Bats, 190 Runs, 463 Hits, 69 Doubles, 13 Triples, 43 Home Runs, 210 RBI, 11 Stolen Bases, 184 Walks, .215 Batting Average, .283 On-base percentage, .319 Slugging Percentage, 687 Total Bases, 40 Sacrifice Hits, 6 Sacrifice Flies and 18 Intentional Walks.

Roof also served as bullpen coach for the San Diego Padres (1978), Seattle Mariners (1983-88) and Chicago Cubs (1990-91), and managed for 16 years in the Twins organization before his 2005 retirement.

To get a copy of the recipe and cookbook contact me at whinneryw@bellsouth.net or stop by Booth 712 at the Kentucky Crafted Market March 4-7 at the Louisville Fair Grounds.