The Waffle Shop began in about 1925 when the women of the church at First Presbyterian put on the event at the beginning of the Christmas season. Earlier called the Christmas Bazaar and Waffle Shop, it became a tradition at First Church and continued to be held annually through 1954, the last year that the church was located downtown on 5th Avenue North. Because the Downtown Presbyterian Church, founded in 1955, assumed responsibility for the historic downtown building, it also assumed responsibility for continuing the Waffle Shop, which benefits the homeless and the poor in the city’s center.
One of the women at the Downtown Presbyterian Church who provided early leadership in putting on the Waffle Shop was Mary Thompson (Mrs. Sam) Orr. With her, Mary brought her cook, Katherine Douglas. Thirty-seven years later, in the early 1990s, when Katherine was 84 years old, and still cooking waffles, she reflected on the many years she had cooked waffles at the church. The recipe that we still use was hers. Here it is: “For each batch, use two dozen eggs, a pound of flour mixed with a little salt and baking powder; a gallon of milk, and I have been using 2 ½ cups of vegetable oil for the past three years and it works out beautifully.”
Katherine said the recipe makes more than 50 waffles. Avondale Rawls, who served as docent at Downtown Presbyterian for many years, described Katherine as “a fixture” at Downtown Presbyterian, and added that “she comes in on Monday and gets everything going and that’s it.”
For the past several years, Denny Harris and Mary Taylor have co-chaired Waffle Shop, which continues to be supported by members and clergy from First Presbyterian. The Waffle Shop has baked goods, books and crafts for sale.
Members of the Downtown Presbyterian Church are grateful for the community’s long-standing support and encourage anyone to come for the 101st annual Waffle Shop on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. The price is $20 if you buy a ticket in advance or $25 at the door. As with every year in the past, the money raised goes to feed our city’s unhoused.
*Ridley Wills II died on Jan. 16, 2025. He wrote this piece before his passing, and new details of this year’s event have been added.