More than a decade ago, Pastors Craig and Wendy Richter with the Lutheran church had the idea for a community dinner that area churches would rotate and hold once a month. First and foremost, the idea lay in creating a forum where the community could join in joy and fellowship.
They called their effort “the Beanbag.” The idea attracted some attention, but in the pre social media days, not enough to build a cadre of volunteers to sustain it. Another problem lay in planning for an unpredictable number of people attending. When the pastors moved on, the idea passed into dormancy.
Now a group of volunteers has come together to revive the idea. Liz and Billy Rollins, Thom and Hayley Craig, Cassie Hubbs, and Sarah and Josh Moyers have come together to form a group calling itself, Twelve Baskets.
They hope to model a monthly dinner after similar ones held in communities elsewhere, such as the Ruritans have done in Capon Bridge. No one would be required to pay to eat, though donations from anyone in any form are welcome.
Rollins, who has worked with Communities in Schools in Pendleton County, shared that “the needs are so great in this county.” In addition to families in need, she cited that some elderly, isolated, and those who lack connections to community could benefit from a gathering of people in a meal of fellowship.
She emphasized that this dinner would be for anyone in the community. It is primarily a fellowship meal whether those who come are in need or not. As Rollins explained, “It will be a place where people can come and be.”
It also will not be affiliated directly with any church or organization. Furthermore, this would not be a forum where organizations could come and share various agendas. Rollins joked that one “wouldn’t get a timeshare pitch” at a dinner, but the general point lay in that the dinner would not include presentations or agendas that might tend to divide people and keep potential attendees away.
The first dinner is scheduled from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on July 23 at Thorn Spring Park. After this, the dinner will always take place on the third Thursday of every month. After the first two dinners, the group may potentially seek to rotate it among Pendleton County’s three valleys to offer each region an opportunity to come together.
When asked about whether or not attendees need to RSVP, she stated that 15 had so far, but also joked that “West Virginians are horrible at RSVPing.” She added that many of those that she hopes will come have fluid schedules because of work, children’s sports, taking care of family, and other unpredictable responsibilities.
Those are, as she put it, exactly the people she hopes will come. Hayley Craig shared that being a “sports mom” for many years, she understands the value of even one night where one doesn’t have to worry about cooking dinner or settling for “fast food” or processed “heat and eat” options. She shared that with her and her husband both coaching, finding time for family food together got tough.
Craig added that they want to “reach anybody who wants to socialize. It’s about building community.”
Fifteen RSVPs, they have figured, will translate to at least 60 people when family is counted. The Ruritan dinners at Capon Bridge regularly filled their hall there, if that serves as any indication of how many could end up coming regularly.
The dinner will have a take-out option as well, in the hopes that those who for whatever reason cannot come, but need the meal, can get one.
A generous donor has footed the bill for the first two dinners. July’s will feature a variety of pasta options with salad and garlic bread, dessert, and a drink. A special kids’ menu offers chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. August will feature another crowd pleaser, a taco bar.
The Twelve Baskets group sent out surveys to determine both interest and need. All but three percent shared that a no-cost meal would be a benefit to them and said they would want to join. A question on the survey asked if the respondent was experiencing a hardship, almost six in 10 said financial, just under 10 percent said they felt isolated, 13 percent said they were under emotional stress, and about 20 percent replied “other.”
As Rollins said, “Who doesn’t have needs sometimes? We all do.”
Comments shared with them included one that said, “Sometimes I have to decide between groceries and paying the electric bill.” Another stated that transportation could serve as a barrier.
Yet another shared, “We suffer from social isolation and emotional stress. We’d like to come break bread with other people and make new connections” and they were “hungry for human interaction.”
And yet another simply stated that “this would be such a blessing for our community.”
