Happy Birthday, Erma

CHOUDRANT — As folks began gathering in the Squire Creek Library to celebrate Erma Hudson’s 90th birthday, mouths began watering. And not because of any fancy spread enticing their taste buds.

Instead, appetites where whetted as conversation turned to the amazing culinary creations Erma shared with the community over more than seven decades in Lincoln Parish. As the “unofficial” hostess of Ruston during those years, she’s touched countless lives with her generous and crave-worthy spirit.

“She’s just a great Southern lady with such a sweet spirit,” Jean Hall shared. “Of course her cooking isn’t bad either.”

As generations of guests flocked to where the “part Southern Belle, part Steel Magnolia” was seated, everyone began recalling their favorite memories of the lady who could turn any occasion into a first-class event.

“Erma became the hostess for Temple Baptist Church after her last child was born,” Rosy Bromell remembered. “She took care of everything for the church and everything was delicious.”

Daughter Lori Wyatt points out that during that era, every shower the church hosted was held at their home.

“Mom’s favorite phrase is “if you’re gonna do it, you might as well do it right,” Wyatt explained. “So when it came time for those showers, the Fellowship Hall in the old Temple building just wasn’t very pretty and there wasn’t anything you could do to make it look nice for a shower. So mom had them at our house and they were always firstclass affairs.”

Ask folks what their favorites from Erma’s kitchen might be and you get various answers. Dianne Davison raved about the famous ribbon cake.

“It had several layers and each layer was a different color and flavor,” Davison said. “You would have raspberry, pistachio, and others. It was so beautiful and you better believe it was delicious.”

Henry Roane added he made multiple trips to Erma’s house to try and learn how to make her famous pralines. However, he never quite made the cut.

“Erma told me I just couldn’t get them dropped fast enough,” Roane laughed. “Now they tasted good but looked awful. Erma’s never looked bad, not once.”

In the mid-1980s, Erma opened a restaurant bearing her name. Nestled in the old Morgan and Lindsey store, now home of The Children’s Shoppe on North Trenton, Erma’s became the go-to place for superb downtown dining. Shirley Crump notes how women weren’t the only ones to enjoy Erma’s delicacies.

“Everything was just so good,” Crump continued. “That spinach salad was to die for. And my husband Kenny didn’t care what anybody else said, he was a man eating quiche. He loved Erma’s quiche. We went down there for lunch at least once a week but usually more often than that.”

Crump added that Miss Erma is part of a coffee club that’s been meeting for more than 30 years. There the ladies offer support for one another through thick and thin, something the birthday girl has been doing for others her entire life.

“She’s just such a sweet Christian lady,” Jan Hall said. “And then there are those cinnamon rolls.”

Known far and wide for both her cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls, Erma has shared those sweet treats as a means of encouragement for decades.

Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion, recovering from surgery, or on the mend after being ill, a delivery of Erma’s signature cinnamon rolls made everything right in the world. Memories of such thoughtfulness certainly brought the crowd together to celebrate her milestone birthday.

“In 1973, Erma brought me a ceramic Santa Claus cookie jar she’d made,” Bromell said. “It was full of her homemade peanut patties. It just meant the world to me and I still put it out on my counter every Christmas. It’s such a sweet reminder of a sweet, sweet lady and friend.”