To the editor:
The 38th Annual Community Christmas Dinner took place on December 14th in the EMA Building at the Fairgrounds. This was a free meal, open to the entire community. We served close to 2000 meals, of which 184 meals were delivered to homebound individuals.
A traditional holiday meal was prepared by The Spot, including their famous pies for dessert. The Masons from Sidney Temperance Lodge No. 73 whipped up plenty of mashed potatoes. About 100 community volunteers helped with preparing, serving, cleaning up, and delivering meals. Local boy scouts and girl scouts were on hand to help take orders. Many community leaders and elected officials helped to serve the food. The Anna Jazz Band played Christmas tunes for guests to enjoy while they ate dinner.
Alvetro Orthodontics sponsored Santa’s corner and it was decorated by community volunteers. Santa had small gifts to hand out to the children along with bags of candy donated by Merrill and Ann Asher.
The Christmas Dinner was sponsored by the Shelby County United Way. Special thanks to the following donors who contributed towards the dinner monetarily, or with items donated: Donald and Evelyn Bensman Foundation, James and Virginia Thompson, Schaffer Insurance, Edward and Merilyn Borchers Family Foundation, FISH, and Lowes in Sidney. The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency allowed us to use their facility to host the dinner. Shelby County Metropolitan Housing provided their chairs for seating. Chris Roediger, and the county, facilitated set up for the dinner, along with a crew from the county jail. The county also loaned us their portable microphone for David Loewer to use during the opening prayer. Daybreak Adult Day Services at Fair Haven took reservations for the home delivered meals. Shelby Public Transit provided transportation for residents at Jackson Towers. Kiwanis Club of Sidney along with other community volunteers delivered the meals to homebound individuals.
This dinner would not be possible without the dedicated community volunteers and sponsors. We appreciate each and every one of you!
Community Christmas Dinner Committee:
Scott Barr
Tracy Eck
Bob Guillozet
Christina Keller
Becky Michael
Jayne Smit
