By Mary-Justine Lanyon
President
Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club
Each year my Rotary Club sponsors a free community Thanksgiving dinner. The past two years, we have served, delivered or sent home nearly 1,000 meals each year.
How does a small club accomplish this? With a lot of help. We have a Thanksgiving planning committee, made up of community members from local churches and other organizations. A major task is organizing the volunteers who always step up; entire families have been known to share their Thanksgiving with us at the San Moritz Lodge.
And how do we pay for this meal? We reach out to our elected officials; Supervisor Dawn Rowe is an enthusiastic supporter of the dinner, making a generous donation each year. We put out donation cans at Goodwin’s; shoppers put their coins and dollar bills in them, all of which adds up. We reach out to our fellow Rotarians, who support us.
This year, with a partnership with the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club, we held a fundraiser we called Burgers ‘n Bingo, held at Leisure Shores on Saturday, Sept. 19. Knowing how popular Bingo is on the mountain, we anticipated a good turnout.
That turnout was better than we had dared to dream – nearly 90 people came with the hopes of being able to shout “Bingo!” Chef Fred prepared delicious burgers, accompanied by baked beans and coleslaw. Volunteer Linda was there to sell chips, candy, soda and water.
We could not have held this fundraiser without Bingo gurus Robert Ippolito and Susan Oh. They brought their expertise as well as daubers to sell, the Bingo sheets and the necessary equipment. They also brought volunteers who set up the tables and chairs and helped sell the Bingo materials.
Robert did the calling the first half of the evening; those duties were then taken over by Bingo Dave, an aficionado who brings all his sound effects with him to Bingo across the mountain.
At the end of the evening, between the Rotary’s share of the Bingo buy-ins, pull tab sales, 50/50 split and dauber sales, we raised nearly $2,000 for the Thanksgiving dinner.
Bingo Dave (left) and Robert Ippolito did the calling at Burgers ‘n Bingo.
But we’re not done! On Sunday, Sept. 27 we will have a community BBQ at the San Moritz Lodge. Chef Fred will once again spring into action, preparing pulled pork sandwiches, burgers and four sides: baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad and corn salad.
As for desserts, we have reached out to the Lions Club, several churches and the community in general. Folks will be bringing their favorite baked goods for us all to enjoy.
There will be silent auction items – like Sycamore Ranch wine and a book club basket – as well as raffle items.
But that’s not all – there will be music all afternoon by local musicians Dale Fisher, Duane Stinnett and Destiny Love.
The good news? We have gotten sufficient donations from Goodwin’s, Grocery Outlet and the Lake Arrowhead Rotary Foundation to cover the cost of the food. The entire $20 ticket price ($10 for children under 12) will go toward the Thanksgiving dinner.
Come for the meal, stay for the music. Bid on some silent auction items and try your luck at winning a raffle prize or two.
Advance tickets are recommended – just visit crestlinerotary.com and click on the hot link on the home page. But don’t let not having ordered a ticket stop you – we’ll be selling tickets at the door.
The BBQ will take place from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Come for a late lunch or early dinner. We look forward to seeing you.
A note from the president: We wish to thank the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club for hosting us at Leisure Shores for our Bingo event. And thank you to Robert Ippolito, Susan Oh, Bingo Dave, Chef Fred and volunteers Linda, Vicky, Dawn and others whose names we did not get. Special thanks to our Rotary 5330 District Governor Elect Brian Pellis for coming up to the event.
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