For many people, serving meals Christmas Day has become the gift their families give.
Saturday, at St. Anne Catholic Church, Duke and Liberty streets, volunteers gathered for the 20th time to host a Christmas dinner.
Because so many churches serve Thanksgiving meals, St. Anne's members noticed a need for a dinner Dec. 25.
I was assigned by the Sunday News to be a waitress at the dinner, and to share my thoughts in an article.
Families who were there Saturday received a hot meal and a gift card to a local grocery store. Many took home loaves of bread, bags of fruit and takeout meals.
I was told by several volunteers that the thought is to feed the people for more than just one day.
Thursday evening, tables were set up with salt-and-pepper shakers, bowls of sugar packets, poinsettias and table numbers. The St. Anne School gym was large and empty and quiet.
The preparation
Friday morning in the school kitchen, a crew hand-mixed the stuffing. Four cups of celery, four cups of onion, one bag of seasoning and a 70-pound bag of bread cubes were tossed together in a roasting pan, then separated into smaller aluminum baking pans that held 5 pounds each.
Ray Hottenstein, owner of Olde Greenfield Inn, prepared the turkey in his restaurant's ovens. Slices were reheated Saturday morning.
Dave Stoltzfus was in charge of the "special mixture" of butter, salt and seasoning that was poured over the bread mixture to give it that "stuffing flavor."
He has helped prepare the dinner for five years.
"It's just a great humbling experience," Stoltzfus said.
MaryRose Sweitzer has been a volunteer in the kitchen with her mom and dad as far back as she can remember.
Sweitzer measured the onions and celery, smiling as she worked. This is the Christmas she has always known.
"It's just something we always did," Sweitzer said. "We do it as a family."
Families come to serve together because it is tradition.
"This works because we wake up early to give gifts," said Ann McIlroy, of Lititz.
"Christmas wouldn't be the same if we didn't [volunteer]," she added
She was ready to serve with daughter Jess and sons Pat and Nick. Her husband, Dan, was ready to go with a blinking Santa hat and apron.
After I arrived Saturday morning, Jess McIlroy filled me in on how to take drink orders, serve meals and reset the table after diners finished their meals.
McIlroy and her two older brothers have been serving with their parents for five year
"It's something you do because you think of all the people that don't have a meal," McIlroy said, noting that many families are repeat volunteers.
'Well-oiled machine'
Early Saturday morning, a line had already formed outside the gym door, people waiting in the crisp, winter air.
Meanwhile, cooks prepped the food line and volunteers finished setting the tables.
As a server, I tied on my apron and adjusted my hat.
Christmas music piped through the loudspeakers, and the air smelled of coffee, stuffing and pie.
At 11 a.m. the doors opened and the 19 tables with 182 seats started to fill. After taking drink orders, Jess and I joined the food line to get the meals.
Turkey, corn, peas, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy were plated by an assembly line that a volunteer says runs like a "well-oiled machine."
There were 30 pans of stuffing, 600 pounds of turkey and 25 gallons of gravy. A table filled with hundreds of dessert servings stretched almost the entire length of the gym.
People came as pairs, some as families with children, others alone. As I handed out the meals, everyone was thankful.
Lots of people complimented the food.
"You did a very good job on this," one older man said as I cleared his plate, making me wish I had actually cooked some of the food, not just served it.
Another man promised a good tip. We laughed because we both knew I was not working for tips. And the experience taught me that serving on Christmas has much more than tip value.
I was saddened that so many people had nowhere else to go for a holiday meal. By 1 p.m., almost all the food, except for a small amount of stuffing and peas, was gone.
By meal's end, more than 500 people had been served at the church, 100 meals were delivered and 200 carryout dinners were prepared.
Of the event, dinner facilitator Ted Dzubinski said, "I enjoy it. It's a lot of fun.
He paced the gym Saturday and kept the show organized, with kitchen, server, cleanup and other behind-the-scenes volunteers reporting to him.
"It takes a lot of work to get this together," Dzubinski said. "It's all worth it." Money is donated by Catholic churches, and individual contributions are given throughout the year.
Hundreds came Saturday to eat.
Hundreds more set tables, donated money, bought food, cooked the meal, waited on the guests and cleane
Midway through the dinner, I looked at all the bustle around me.
Drinks were refilled. Trays carried. Leftovers boxed. Trash emptied. And there was still a long line of people waiting to eat.
And then, at my foot, I noticed one of the pamphlets distributed to people as they left St. Anne's.
It showed a picture of the baby Jesus with the words "Christ Our Savior is born."
That's why this is done, I thought.
"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
"We do this to give back," said volunteer Denise Fessler, looking around at all the people eating. "It's the simple reason for the season."
No comments:
Post a Comment