By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Christmas most definitely came to the mountain.
On Dec. 24, a huge crew of volunteers descended upon the Elks Lodge in Rimforest, transforming the dining room into a festive holiday space, ready for the annual Operation Provider Christmas Day dinner. The tree was decorated from top to bottom. The tables were set with white linen cloths, green napkins and centerpieces made of slices of trees and greens. The napkins were folded to resemble trees.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, volunteers were preparing the food for the Christmas Day dinner: turkey, stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and green beans.
The bags of gifts for Operation Provider clients who had preregistered were arranged. Boxes of additional gifts were arranged by interest and age.
On Christmas morning, folks created the dessert table – a variety of holiday cookies and pies. Final preparations were made in the kitchen.
The dining room at the Elks Lodge was abuzz with conversation as volunteers served Christmas Day dinner.
At 11 a.m., the doors were opened and the first guests arrived and were checked in. While 89 families had preregistered, many others walked in and were greeted warmly. Some folks came by themselves, others arrived in groups of six and up to nine.
Destiny Love entertained the diners with a variety of Christmas carols. The guests joined in on some.
Music for the event was provided by Destiny Love, who sang a variety of carols and songs of the season. When she started singing “Feliz Navidad,” the dining room – full to near capacity – broke out in song.
Santa arrived at about noon and stayed for several hours. Guests lined up to have their photo taken with the Jolly Old Elf.
Holland Lowe, executive director of Operation Provider, was deep in conversation with Santa.
Holland Lowe, the executive director of Operation Provider, was thrilled with the entire day – the way the room looked, the quality of the food, the number of folks who turned out both to volunteer and to enjoy the meal. She is grateful to the Elks Lodge for the use of the space.
Several guests took a moment to thank Lowe and to give her a donation toward the event – something that is neither required nor requested but is welcomed. One man spotted a toy on the table he wanted for himself; he insisted on making a donation for it.
Chris and Ryan Whitty worked tirelessly all day, choosing toys for the lucky children who came to the free community dinner on Christmas Day.
By 3 p.m., the elves who had been creating bags of toys for the walk-in guests and passing out those bags started putting the toys away for next year. Volunteers began breaking down the tables and putting the dining room back to its original set-up.
Lowe’s hope is that this free Christmas Day dinner filled her guests with the spirit of the season. Her thinking behind the dinner is that no one should sit home alone on this special day. Some folks met friends at the dinner; others made new friends.
The smiles on the guests’ faces made the efforts of the volunteers well worth it. The cries of “Merry Christmas” echoed throughout the lodge.
Operation Provider distributes food to its clients on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m. The food bank is located at 26525 Pine Avenue, Rimforest. For more information, visit www.operationprovider.org.
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