Eganville – Grace Lutheran Church hosted its annual Harvest Dinner on Saturday and patrons came from near and far to enjoy the delicious homemade meal hosted by the Ladies Aid Society.

Just over 600 meals were served on a beautiful warm autumn day that saw line-ups from the start at 3:30 until the closing at 7 p.m.

“Our dinner went very, very well. We served about 600 people,” noted dinner coordinator Janice Nagora. “And we had a lot more take-outs than we anticipated.

“So, there was a long line-up to get in, but I think everybody enjoyed it,” she added. “I didn’t hear any complaints about it. Everyone really enjoyed it.”

She said they will likely look at another way for those purchasing takeout meals to correct avert delays in moving the line through.

The meal included turkey, dressing, , ham, sauerkraut, mashed and scalloped potatoes, baked beans, and a variety of vegetables as well as a dozen different pies to choose from. She added they had gluten-free options which were much appreciated. Mrs. Nagora said they changed the menu from sausages and meat balls last year to turkey and ham this year just to change up the menu for patrons.

The volunteers started preparing some of the meal early in the week with the workforce varying from as few as five to about 20 by the end of the week. They cooked 26 turkeys, 120 pounds of potatoes, 14 hams, 40 loaves of bread for dressing, 90 heads of romaine lettuce, 25 pounds of bacon for the Caesar salad, 12 roast pans of scallops, and 10 roast pans of beans, 50 pounds of coleslaw, and 150 pounds of carrots and turnips.   

With the Ladies Aid being a small group, they rely on other members of the congregation to assist, and once again they stepped up to the plate to help out. In addition, she said other members from the community volunteered to help, as did some of the former members of the United Church, who worshipped at Grace until their church was recently disbanded.

“We had a number of people who live in the community offer to help, which is really, really good,” she said. “And the members from the United Church helped out a lot with donations and volunteering.” 

“And we want to thank all the people that supported our dinner,” she remarked.