Snow couldn’t dampen spirit of Christmas dinner

MARION – Heavy snow may have kept a majority of invited guests from Christmas dinner but it didn't dampen the holiday spirit for those who were there.

Just under 30 people attended a ham and scalloped potatoes dinner at First Presbyterian Church, 802 12th St., in Marion, prepared and served by volunteers from the church. The dinner was offered to patrons of the Churches of Marion Food Pantry, which is housed at the church.

Chad Miller, 39, of Marion, was grateful for the holiday dinner.

“I was impressed, ham and potatoes sounded pretty good,” he said.

For Brian McGlaughlin, 43, of Marion, the dinner was an opportunity to spend some time with friends he brought with him.

“I thought this was a good thing,” McGlaughlin said. “I'm getting together with family tomorrow, but this was nice for my friends.”

A few minutes is all it took for Melanie Mabee to put plans for the Christmas dinner into action.

Mabee, the Christian education coordinator at First Presbyterian, was talking with her husband Dave a week before Thanksgiving when he told her that “it's a shame we didn't do something at Thanksgiving for the people at the pantry.”

“I thought about it for a minute and thought, ‘It's too late for Thanksgiving, but it's not too late for Christmas,'” Mabee, 49, said.

As coordinator for the annual fall dinner for retirees put on by the church youth groups, Mabee was no stranger to coordinating large dinners.

“I figured if I could feed 120 people for the retirees dinner then I could certainly feed 150 for Christmas,” she said.

A group of more than 30 volunteers from the church prepared ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans and homemade desserts for about 150 people, just in case the weather didn't keep them away. The food that wasn't served will be donated to the Greene Square Meals program, Mabee said.

Jody Thies, 43, of Marion, and her family were among the volunteers at the church. She said she thought the dinner was a good opportunity to show her children not only what it's like to volunteer but also that “it really makes you feel good when you can help someone who isn't as lucky as we are.”

Danyel Kolek, 31, of Marion, brought her family to help serve the dinner, too.

“This is something I did as a teenager and I always wanted to do it again,” she said. She enjoyed serving the dinner.

“Everybody deserves to be waited on at least once,” she said.