Hot Lunch Arrives at Cardwell School for First Time in 106-Year History

After more than a century of sack lunches and cold sandwiches, Cardwell School officially entered a new era this week. On Monday, October 27, 2025, the school served its first-ever hot lunch prepared in its own on-site kitchen-a milestone more than 100 years in the making.

Opened in 1919, the small rural school had never operated a hot lunch program. For one brief year in this century, the school partnered with Bill Brown of the K Bar & Grill to provide catered lunches. That experiment ended after a year due to the logistical challenges of catering daily meals.

The idea of establishing a kitch...