Dinner is served

Church volunteers host annual free community meal on Christmas Day

The entire community is invited to attend the free annual Christmas dinner being held at the Mother Lode Christian School in Tuolumne from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, which will include food, fellowship, music and gifts.

“We have enough food to feed 500 people,” Richard Mcguire, of Greeley Hill, said. “We are hoping for a big turnout. We want people to know we care about them. Whether you are homeless, or you have a million dollars, everyone is welcome.”

Mcguire, who is a member of Calvary Chapel Sonora, helped organize the dinner with fellow parishioners Lynnette Mitchell and John Large, both of Sonora, who were aided in their efforts by approximately 100 fellow church and community members.

Herb roasted turkey — 711 pounds were donated by Diestel Turkey Ranch for the dinner — will anchor the meal which will also include mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and fresh baked dinner rolls.

“We are grateful to Diestel for such a generous donation,” Mitchell said.

Desserts that will be offered include pecan, peach and pumpkin pie, cookies and fudge. Hot coffee, donated by Mother Lode Coffee Roasting Co. and Day-o Espresso, both of Sonora, will also be served.

The venue for this year’s event, which was held at the Sonora Opera Hall in the past, was made possible by Mother Lode Christian School, which provided the use of the gymnasium and kitchen at no charge.

Sponsors of the event included Adventist Health Sonora, which donated disposable masks and hand sanitizer, and Calvary Chapel Sonora, which donated money and office supplies. Other Sonora-area businesses that contributed to the event included Tractor Supply, Staples, Save Mart, Priceco Foods, Safeway, Grocery Outlet

and Lowe’s, according to Mcguire.

Large tables set up in the gymnasium, where the dinner will take place, were filled with items for the homeless and needy to select, including warm sweaters, coats, blankets, shoes, pants, jammies, canned goods and other nonperishable food items. A large collection of toys, donated by the community, lay unwrapped under the Christmas tree on the gym’s stage.

“The gifts will be given out on Saturday,” Mitchell said.

This year’s dinner will be held in honor of Bob

Wilson, who died of COVID-19 on Oct. 4, 2021, and hosted the event for the last time in 2019. He was an outreach ministry leader at Calvary Chapel

Sonora and worked as a respiratory therapist for Adventist Health Sonora.

“We put it in our hearts. We had to do it for Bob Wilson,” Mitchell said. “Bob loved everybody.”

Shelly Thorene / Union Democrat With warming trays in place , volunteers prepare the multipurpose room at Mother Lode christian School for the Christmas dinner on Saturday (above).

Shelly Thorene / Union Democrat Volunteer Debbie White, of Sonora decorates tables at Mother Lode Christian School for Saturday’s Christmas Dinner (top) as Jim Maddox ,of Sonora (above) prepares a Christmas tree for its stand.

Shelly Thorene / Union Democrat Gary and Lindy Middleton, oftwain Harte (right), organize a table full of canned goods at Mother Lode Christian School onthursday, as volunteer Alyssa Elms, 13, oftwain Harte (above), organizes clothing donations on another table.