Spaghetti Dinner Was A Success!

The spaghetti dinner was a huge success last night! We had close to 250 people in attendance and the church was full! It was great seeing so many people come out to support Mike. People started coming in early around 4:30 p.m. The food was ready so we went ahead and started sending people to get their spaghetti.

Mike and Judy were busy last night, walking around, talking to everyone there. Judy keeps saying she doesn't know what she is going to run out of first - tears or Kleenex. Mike had a surprise visitor that came for the event - Mikie flew up for the weekend! Mike had guessed earlier in the week though that he was coming so he wasn't surprised but he was sure happy to see him there. Michelle, Dean, Kayla, Austin, Mikie, Mike, Judy and Helen all had the head table - the one closest to the food!

The silent auction was a success, as we had 21 items that people could bid on. We ended up raising almost $1,000 just from the silent auction! Bill was busy all evening calling off door prizes every 15 minutes. We had many, many door prize items that were given away.

Chris was our greeter at the door and she did a great job greeting everyone and making them feel welcome. Jane was our official basket seller/order taker last night and she kept things on that side going.

Michelle and Kayla were in charge of the silent auction table and they did a great job of making sure those tables ran smoothly and they had the fun job of collecting money from everyone! Michelle was having a great time chatting with lots of people! Every time I walked by her she was talking to someone different!

I called Bobby a "dip" because he was one of our food dippers. I kept trying to give him a break but he wanted to be a dip! (Just kidding!) He was a big help on the food table and I appreciate him standing there the whole time. He was helped by Jess & Josh. Mike's sisters, Pauline and Jeannie, helped in the kitchen with dipping spaghetti and sauce and doing dishes in between customers. Pauline's husband, Ron, kept things filled up on the food table where Bobby was at.

My mom, Carolyn, my dad, Dave, and my sister, Sue, kept the drink table running smoothly. Bev & Lois were in charge of desserts and boy did they ever have a lot of desserts to dish out! That table was a big hit! We had many great cakes, cookies, cupcakes and other desserts donated. Bev was also a huge help in getting door prizes and silent auction items donated.

Our "behind the scenes" volunteers in the kitchen were Aunt Edna and Francis H. She cooks for all of the spaghetti dinners at the Shook Home in Chambersburg so we had a pro to help us out.

Justin was our photographer last night ( I will post pictures tomorrow) and Austin, along with Gretchen's son & daughter, and Gretchen helped to clear off tables.

Our daughter, Lori and my babysitter, Samantha, had craft activities for the kids to do and they kept that corner of the room running smoothly. Lori was also a great help with getting donations, door prizes and silent auction items donated. She also came early yesterday (2:30) to help Bill & I get things started at the church. Lori's two girls, Lexi and Mikaela, and our son, Logan, helped us put placemats and plasticware around on all of the tables. We had everyone working - even the little ones!

Mikie helped take trash to the dumpster and he helped us load up the vehicles with leftovers and other items.

Woody Payne was a great pianist for us last night and it was so nice to have Christmas music playing while everyone ate and chatted.

A friend and fellow train club member, Tony, and Steve Cox, another train club member and co-worker of Mike's, were a huge help in getting us to the church yesterday. I had everything for the spaghetti dinner stashed in my doll room and there was little room left in there to walk we had so much stuff! He came down at 2:00 p.m. yesterday and helped us load up the trailer and it was great having him! Then last evening, Steve Cox was a huge help in tearing down. He helped with trash, cleaning off tables and vacuuming the church foyer. Steve also helped to sell many tickets at Gabler's.

Later when it was time to clean up, we put all of the young men to work. Justin, Brandon, Josh, and a friend of Justin's helped to sweep, mop, put away tables and chairs and rearrange chairs for today's church service.

Chris said prayer before we began and that was so nice. It was a wonderful way to start the evening and it just put a calm over me that I definitely needed! I was a nervous wreck!

The church was wonderful in making sure all of the tables were set up and they were very helpful to us. Bill, Logan and I belong to a wonderful church and we are very proud to attend Mt. Rock.

It was wonderful to see so many people chip in and help and the whole event, from beginning to end, from October to now, was a team effort. It is something that I know none of us in the family will ever forget. Mike is really loved and last night it showed in that room. We could have probably easily sold at least another 100 tickets. He has touched a lot of lives and I am glad that he could see the results of that with everyone together in one room.

Thank you!

Thank you so much to everyone in the family and friends who helped with this event from donating food and items to working last night. We couldn't have had a better group of people working and everything that everyone did was greatly appreciated by us!