Warren Church Turkey Dinner to Raise Funds, Donate Dinners to First Responders

Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church is hosting its annual Traditional Turkey Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 5, in Codington Hall, 42 Liberty Corner Road, Warren. To make a reservation for 5 pm or 7 pm, please call 908-575-1625 or visit mthorebumcwarren.org.

The church is also accepting donations online to provide turkey dinners to the Warren Police Department and local families in need. All proceeds will benefit Mt. Horeb Church’s community service projects.

The menu will include turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce plus stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, seasonal vegetables, homemade desserts, lemonade, coffee and tea for $15 per adult, $8 per child 10-years-old and younger. Take-out orders are available for $15 each.

A 60-YEAR TRADITION OF FEEDING THE MASSES

Reservations for Mt. Horeb’s Turkey Dinner have been selling out for years. The dinner, known for its delicious, made-from-scratch food and all-you-can eat buffet, has been an annual event for as long as anyone at the church can remember.

“Mt. Horeb was already doing [it’s annual] turkey dinner back when I was a child - some 60 years ago,” said Judy Fairless, a long-time Warren resident who grew up in the church. “My mother, Gladys, ran the dinner for quite awhile.”

Back then dinners were cooked and served family-style by a team of volunteers in the basement of the church.

“When Gladys lit one of the old ovens, it blew back and singed her eyebrows. She never missed a beat,” said Amy Barraco, a Bridgewater resident who recalls serving meals at the dinner as teenager, while her friend Judy worked the front of the house. “The dinner was in May. [Church parishioner and life-long Warren resident] Lora Codington decorated tables with daffodils from her field.”

Perhaps it was the temperamental old oven that gave Lora Codington an idea. In her will, Lora left a generous donation to the church to “build a fellowship hall where the town’s youth could gather.” Today, Codington Hall is often filled with kids attending scout troop meetings, Vacation Bible School, social events or completing mission projects.

Lora’s gift also provided for a large, modern commercial kitchen within Codington Hall. The new space, completed twelve years ago, has allowed the congregation to feed the masses. In addition to serving nearly 150 guests annually at its Turkey Dinner, church volunteers, along with help from local scout troops, serve hundreds of meals throughout the year to guests at Samaritan Homeless Interim Program (SHIP) in Somerville and Star Fish Food Pantry in Plainfield.

What Lora Codington probably didn’t imagine is that the Turkey Dinner and her Codington Hall kitchen would be the source of hot meals for first responders and repair crews during Superstorm Sandy. It was one of only a few times in its long history that the Turkey Dinner had to be canceled.

“We had turkeys quickly defrosting in the freezers,” said Warren resident Carrie Kitze, who co-chairs the dinner along with Doug Ball, of Bridgewater. “We lit the stoves to cook gallons of soup and dozens of casseroles in a darkened kitchen.”

Volunteers also delivered hot meals to local residents trapped inside their homes, to the Warren Police station and to Homeless Solutions in Morristown. “I remember driving [to Morristown] and the warm casseroles making the car smell amazing,” said Carrie. “As we walked into the shelter with the trays of food, we had a number of people following us because it smelled so good and they hadn't had hot food for a week.”

Four years after the storm, a new storm is brewing in the Codington Hall kitchen. It’s a weeks-long frenzy of planning, shopping and prepping by scores of church volunteers who will be at their post on Saturday, Nov. 5, ready to feed the masses along with volunteers from Warren Boy Scout Troop 228. It’s a team of young and old bringing to life the vision Lora Codington had for her Codington Hall.

For Turkey Dinner reservations, please call 908-575-1625 or visit www.mthorebumcwarren.org. To make a donation to the church’s community service projects, please visit www.mthorebumcwarren.org