In the early 1950s the Richland School added kitchen to the school building. The SW 1st floor changing room for the gym was converted into a modern kitchen staffed form many year by Vera Buckingham Thorp (1904-1994) of Richland. From 1964 until the school closed, Erma Potter Schroeder (1945-2018) worked here serving meals daily. Born in Richland the daughter of Harry & Mabel (Barker) Potter, Erma attended Richland school and was a member of the Pulaski Class of 1964.   Erma was married to Richard Schoreder who passed away in 2004, by whom she had two children: Richard Jr. and Kathy.

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Following her retirement from Pulaski Schools Food service in 2004, Erma began to volunteer at Half Shire, becoming the curator and day to day manager of the building for over ten years. The old kitchen was used to serve lunches for meetings.    In the early years of the organization cover dish suppers and large meals were served from the kitchen. During the late 2010s work began to update the kitchen. Following the sudden death of Erma in 2018 the society doubled its' efforts to renovate the kitchen, dedicating it in Erma's memory in late 2019.

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The kitchen is not used for commercial meal preparation as it utilizes a well, however all of the other components are updated and modern, right down to the industrial grade poured Stonehard flooring system. Visitors and guests at Half-Shire are always invited to relax and have a cup of coffee or tea and often sample some fresh baked goods, as was Erma's normal welcome while she was here.