The 15th annual free countywide holiday dinner will be 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the McDonald County High School cafeteria.
Casey Burkhart-Henson, staff advisor for the Student Council, which runs the annual event, said, "One of the pillars of student council is community service. It's an opportunity for our students to look after someone else. It's a time of fellowship, it's a time of being together. Our school here is like a family. It's a chance for our kids to extend that to the community and eat as a family."
The menu includes a choice of ham or turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, green beans, cranberry sauce, hot rolls, desserts, coffee and tea. About 700 people are expected to attend, Burkhart-Henson said.
"Our gravy is made completely from scratch. The dressing is how I was taught to make dressing. Our cranberry sauce has real cranberries in it," she said.
Asked how people respond to the dinner, she said, "They say that it's excellent food. Our neighbors always thank us for dinner and (say) that they had a really good time. They tell me it gets better every year, and I like to think that it does because I get more practice at getting it right.
"I have students that volunteer, that help work at it and run it and they aren't even on Student Council. I've always felt that was kind of neat because I feel it brings out the best in people."
Tricia Wattman is one of the executive board members who is running the dinner, she said. Each year one of the students has to take the dinner on as a project. Wattman is a senior and plays on the girls' basketball team.
Santa Claus will be on hand at the dinner to hear children's wishes and to have pictures made, Burkhart-Henson said. There will also be a coloring table for the children.
"The art department will put up art that the kids have been working on. We have amazing artists. Some of the stuff my kids have made and drawn never ceases to amaze me."
Students also deliver meals on wheels the night of the dinner to various parts of the county -- about 200 on average, she said.
"I think it's going to be cold that evening, so it should feel like Christmas time. All my kids will be wearing little Santa hats. They all get into it. For them this is truly the beginning of the Christmas holiday."
Burkhart-Henson concluded, "I can't believe we've done it for 15 years. That's quite a while."
General News on 12/08/2016