Good days start with a good breakfast and every Tuesday, a little love is served up on a plate when David Boolos prepares breakfast for the Men’s Breakfast Club, which meets at Crawford Street United Methodist Church (CSUMC). He’s been doing it for 42 years.
Eggs – both fried and scrambled – bacon, grits and the highlight of homemade biscuits have been the feature at Men’s Breakfast Club for decades. Originally, when the men began meeting in 1945, the menu consisted of donuts and coffee. Somewhere along the way, CSUMC member F. W. “At” Atkinson began serving up heartier fare, with the help of a small crew of fellow breakfast club attendees.
In the 80-year history of Men’s Breakfast Club, Boolos is only the second person to serve as head chef.
This week, the regular attendees of the breakfast club recognized Boolos for his time serving at the helm in the kitchen, where he faithfully plans and prepares food for a gathering of about 20-25 men. Like Atkinson, he has a few men who help him prepare the meal.
Homemade biscuits are a popular item offered each Tuesday. By his estimate, Boolos makes about 50 biscuits for every meeting. After 42 years, that’s more than 100,000 biscuits that Boolos has either made or helped make.
The Men’s Breakfast Club is non-denominational. Men from all faiths gather for the devotion and breakfast every Tuesday. Even non-church-goers attend.
“We’ve had Baptists, we’ve had Catholics and Church of Christ. We’ve had guys that don’t go to any church at all,” Boolos said. “People from all over, really.”
Boolos finds providing breakfast rewarding, not just for the regular attenders, but also for visitors.
“We have people we call ‘guests’ every week,” he said. “People from around the neighborhood, we get some homeless guys . . . I know that they’re not eating regular. I really like that we take care of them. We ask how they’re doing, we sit them down, give them a meal, give them extra biscuits to take with them. Stuff like that.”
Men’s Breakfast Club has even become a family affair.
“We encourage people to bring their sons. I’ve got two grandsons who come during the school year on a regular basis. They really like it.”
When asked if he has ever missed a Tuesday, Boolos said, “Well, I broke my hip one time. I missed eight weeks. I couldn’t put my right foot on the ground, so I had to miss then. But I’ve worked with two broken wrists. I learned to do a lot of things left-handed, so it wasn’t a problem.”
Boolos even plans vacations around his Tuesday mornings.
A small fee is charged to cover the cost of the food, and wives and girlfriends are invited to attend at Christmas, when a special meal featuring French toast is offered. Although women aren’t invited to attend on Tuesdays, the intent is not to exclude them.
“It’s one day a week (the wives) don’t have to bother with us,” Buddy Lofton, a regular at Men’s Breakfast Club, said.
Boolos said his favorite part of Men’s Breakfast Club is after the devotion and food.
“We just sit around and talk. We’re through eating by 7:15. We sit around and talk stories. It’s fun, talking and kidding around, especially during football season.”
College loyalties are strongly at play during Men’s Breakfast Club, and friendly teasing about who has the better sports team of the moment is common.
“We have the Bulldog table (for MSU fans),” he said. “I think everybody at that table was a Bulldog. They don’t like to let us Rebels in there. We don’t have a lot of Rebels, but I can find out everything that’s wrong with Mississippi State football in about five minutes, listening to that table.”
Boolos has no plans to retire.
“I’d like to make it to the 100th anniversary (of Men’s Breakfast Club),” he said. “That will be in 2045, 21 years from now. I’d like to still be head of it. In the 100 years, we will have had only two head (cooks): F. W. Atkinson and me. I’ll be 93 years old, so I’m hoping I’ll be healthy enough to do it.”
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