Annual Turkey Dinner Helps Bring Community Together

The 's annual turkey dinner is a community event where seconds are not only allowed, but encouraged.

About 200 area residents streamed in Saturday night to in the village area for the traditional fixings of turkey, gravy, coleslaw, salad, corn, green bean casserole, squash, mashed potatoes, two kinds of fruity gelatin salads and rolls, as well as a choice of several kinds of pie and cake.

Many people said they were there not only for the food, but to see old friends and meet new ones.

"It's just a small-town kind of event that we wouldn't miss for anything," said Barbara Krueger, a Hartland area resident who regularly attends with her husband, Dick. "The pumpkin pie was delish." 

Pastor Fred Finzer said hosting the annual dinner gives the church family a common goal and sense of accomplishment. "It gives us a chance, especially me as a pastor, to visit and invite people back," said Finzer, who's attended five of the dinners as pastor.

The dinner has taken place since 1942, according to the most recent issue of Community Life, Hartland's monthly newsletter.

"It was started way back when as a harvest dinner for the people in Hartland," said Fran Warthman, a volunteer who was taking admission money for the dinner that helps fund church charities.

She and her husband, Ron, have volunteered at the dinner since joining the church 17 years ago. The most people ever served was 300 several years ago, Warthman recalled, and it took place in the former hall upstairs. The food was mostly prepared off site and brought in and warmed up in a small kitchen at the church. It took three place settings of 100 people at 5, 6 and 7 p.m. to feed the crowd, she added.

"A lot of people were fed and out in an hour (back then). Now they're encouraged to relax and stay as long as they like," Warthman said.

Experience lends itself to a successful enterprise. Volunteers, clearly accustomed to the routine, warmed up additional food, cut more pie and cake and transferred food to the area where diners served themselves before supplies ran out. Coffee conveniently was brought around to the tables and the Boy Scouts cleared tables quickly and efficiently.

Several church organizations are involved in organizing and running the dinner, including the United Methodist Women's Group, the United Methodist Men's Group and the church-sponsored Boy Scout Troop 383.

"It's really a church effort," Warthman said.

After the funds are counted, a combined men's and women's group meeting takes place and the money is allocated to various worthy causes. Past recipients of these funds include Walk for Warmth, the Salvation Army, Gleaners, the American Red Cross and Love, Inc. (Love in the Name of Christ),  event chairwoman Vivian Lemon said.

"This is a big fundraiser for missions — local and worldwide," Lemon said.

Cooking and serving the meal is greatly facilitated by the large commercial kitchen and a new, larger fellowship area, Warthman said, part of the church's 2004 addition. 

One of the standard dishes served at the turkey dinner is the traditional church stuffing that Ron Warthman adapted with a few tweaks (although this year, someone else made it). Warthman said he doesn't really have a favorite dish at the dinner. "I like it all," he said.

Church members try to keep the dinner admission price down, Finzer said. Adults paid $10, while admission was $5 for children older than 6 and those younger were admitted free of charge.

"We like to think it's a value meal to people who can't afford (it) somewhere else," he said.

Church members without the ability to pay still would have been admitted to the dinner; after all, the intent is to raise money to help others.

James Franczak and his wife, Carol, who are Hartland area residents and parishioners at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, were attending the dinner for a second time.

"Everything was fantastic," he said.

Hartland area resident Chester Kuchta, who sat with the Franczaks, added: "I ate everything but the platter."

Terry Wingblad, a church member who volunteered his help in the kitchen, also thoroughly enjoyed his dinner. "I only eat dressing a couple of times a year," he said. "That's my favorite part of the meal."

Barbara Krueger said going to events like the church dinner shows how Hartland is like an old town in New York or Massaschusetts. "It's like a step back in time," she said.

Dick Krueger, who heads the Hartland Area Community Council, a group that organizes the Heritage Festival and Memorial Day Parade, gave a reason to attend that extends beyond the great food: "You can't be part of the community if you don't come to a community event," he said.