A Christmas Dinner for the community
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MARSHALL -- Louise VanLeeuwe took a bite out of a piece of fudge she was holding as she stood inside the Carlin Hall kitchen at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.
"I made 40 pounds of fudge," she said after swallowing the fudge. "I'm testing it."
She then laughed.
VanLeeuwe wasn't the only one enjoying a Merry Christmas during a Christmas Day dinner held for the thankful public in the hall.
Dozens of people were sitting down eating turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans. And of course, VanLeeuwe's fudge was there for dessert.
Also in the kitchen, Larry Doom was joking around with John Wartner as they cleaned dishes and pans.
Behind them was a line of volunteers smiling and bellowing out "Merry Christmas" as they filled plates with steaming hot food.
Other volunteers scurried about picking up dirty dishes and placing clean silverware and place mats on the tables.
Vanleeuwe is one of the organizers of the dinner.
"It's a community Christmas Day dinner and we've had it going for over 12-15 years," she said. "It's just grown and grown and we've been serving over 500 people."
And it was just not the people who arrived in droves to the hall who benefited from the festive event. VanLeeuwe said more than 200 takeouts were picked up as of 12:30 p.m.
"This year Marshall Square Apartments had over 65 dinners that they picked up. Both hospice houses picked up dinners," she said.
VanLeeuwe explained that preparing for the dinner starts two weeks before Christmas. That's when they cook the turkeys. They then freeze the meat to preserve it for the dinner.
"It takes a lot of cooperation and help," she said.