Come one, come all to the community Christmas dinner

One of this area’s most communal events, for the past 21 years, has been the Ella-Mae Gorensonfree annual Christmas dinner, hosted on Christmas day from noon until 2 p.m.

The Christmas dinner named after the founder of the event, an event so popular and loved that seven years ago it spun off into a free Thanksgiving dinner.

“People started asking if we could please have a thanksgiving dinner, so seven years ago we decided to give it a try. It was as successful as the Christmas dinner so we hope to continue it,” Susan Starrsaid. “We had people from Alaska, Montana and Ohio that came for thanksgiving. They come from all over. They hear it on the radio or read it in the paper and they come.”

“We started doing this with her (Ella-Mae) 20 years ago. Randy and Karen Deboer are helping us now, as is Jack and Glenda Schilling and Jim and Kelly Price.”

With the overwhelming success the dinners have shown Starr, claiming the crowds grow every year, said, “We outgrew the Lodgepole Valley Youth Camp and when we went to find a new place the Methodist Church offered their facilities to use, so that is where were are.”

She and her husband Dean are members of the church, but not everyone associated in the development of each dinner is.

The majority of the cooking is done by three main members Starr said, herself, Randy and Karen Deboer, but “Jim and Kelly Price do the potatoes,” and “Jack Schilling does all the dressing and bread.”

The main dishes served are, “Turkey, ham and beef, and then overnight potatoes and gravy,” Starr said

Adding to the holiday spread Starr said, “We ask people to bring a veggy, a dessert or a salad, but only if they want to. Our dessert table is just totally awesome! We have pies, cakes, cookies and one year we had baklava.”

Usually there are few if any leftovers to be found once the crowds go through the line and everyone has had their fill, but on the chance there are, “we ask them to take the left overs home and we provide the clam shell for them to take ‘em home in,” Starr said.

Though not having any leftovers to take home shouldn’t be surprising, since last year’s attendance for the meal reached 125 people and this year’s Thanksgiving crowd upwards around 160 and aspirations of the numbers to continue to grow for this dinner.

There are more people providing for this dinner, Starr said, but in a different way – by donating food.

These benefactors include the Cabela’s Bagel Group who provides their namesake – bagels – TE donates turkeys and Wal Mart.

Anyone who would like to donate to the dinner, even if not attending, is more than welcome to, Starr adding, “We appreciate everything that is brought in to the dinner.”

With such a strong pull to gather the community together for what is usually seen as a family holiday, by this one woman, the question of origin had to be asked - a question that right away showed strong emotions from Starr.

“Ella-Mae Gorenson had lost all of her children, to either car accident or (military) service related and on by illness. She decided she wanted to start giving back to the community so she started an annual Christmas dinner,” Starr said.

A community project few would have felt like doing after so much tragedy touching their life, truly a testimony of strength and good will during this time of year.

Starr said her husband and she began helping with the dinner because, “We had family coming in, so we decided to help with this because it’s such an awesome deal, giving back to the community and let everybody enjoy your Christmas rather than having to spend time alone.

“It brightens everybody’s Christmas, everybody is just so happy. The camaraderie and they reminisce, ‘I haven’t seen you for years’ I hear people say. ‘It’s wonderful that you came.’ It is really a good community thing and family thing.”

Starr said she and Dean look forward to the dinner every year, because for them it is “better to give than receive,” as it was for Ella-Mae Gorenson.