A little more than one year ago we were approached about putting together a community supper. The goal was to offer a supper that would bring people together and meet a need without focusing any attention on the sponsor. To make this happen we formed a small planning group and decided to hold the event on Halloween night because we knew that was a difficult night for families to be able to have a normal supper with so much taking place that night. A major obstacle was not knowing how many people would come to the supper and as a result not knowing how much food to prepare. We proceeded by planning for a little more than 150 trick or treaters and their families to come to the Wagner Theater for the supper. The doors opened and we quickly saw a crowd of over 200 come through the door so we had to make some major adjustments to have the food go farther than we were prepared for. We made the food stretch as far as possible and were forced to turn several people away. We had quickly found that we had picked a good night for the event.

Before we knew it a year had passed and preparations for a new supper and a larger crowd were here. This time we planned for 325 people to attend instead. Super Foods prepared the food and the help arrived to get the room ready for when the crowd would enter the door. The meal included a tavern, baked beans, macaroni salad, chips and a drink. The door opened and in came the Trick or Treaters, their families and anyone who wanted to attend. However, people came and continued to come in a continuous flow. We had planned on serving food from 4:30 to 6:30 and to our surprise an hour had quickly passed and we were out of food. There was no more! Obviously, once again, the supper was a big success and the need is also obviously great. Now we find ourselves already talking about next year and what we need to do to properly prepare. We were very lucky to have several great volunteers helping to organize the room, serve the meal and do the clean up. As can be seen in the picture, a great time was enjoyed by all. Costumes of all kinds came through the door along with parents and elders, all enjoying the evenings event.

As we think about next year we have to also think about the financial involvement as well, since the supper has grown well beyond our initial plan. We want the supper to continue because the need is clearly there and those attending find it a great event that helps bring us all together. Our biggest obstacle will be to find a way to help ensure that the supper can financially continue on into the future as it has outgrown the ability for one sponsor to carry it on. To help ensure that supper can continue we need to find additional caring individuals who would like to join in our efforts. If you or anyone you know wants to get involved and is interested in helping, please contact Dana Sanderson at 491-0804 and state your interest in being a part of the event for this next year. Isn’t it great to see so many people coming together for a meal?