My friend Jerry bought the only restaurant in town that the bank had foreclosed on several years ago. Jerry bought it because he wanted a community place and the price was too good to pass up. He had it for a year or so before he reopened it as a breakfast and lunch diner – the only place to eat besides the local bar right across the street. These two along with the general store and combined hardware/bakery make up the only businesses in the entire area.
Jerry and I were talking about community one day when i got the bright idea we should have a community potluck once a month – the old kind where anyone and everyone brought something and we sat around and ate and talked. As luck would have it we started in October last year before the Winter of unending snow! Everyone who remained up here really needed a reason to get out that Winter and everyone needs to eat sooner or later. And so Dave and Jerry’s Community Potlucks were born.
Every month whoever wants or cans comes down to the restaurant on the third Monday after the Diner closes. You might wonder why the third Monday. Well, compliments of President Nixon, there’s a declared holiday almost every month on the third Monday! We have a different theme every time to help folks decide what to make – like October was a Harvest Potluck featuring root crops; January was hor dourves and desserts (less PC than MLK birthday); Irish foods for March, well you get the idea.
We really had no idea if it would work or if it was a good idea, but now in our second year we get around 50 each potluck give or take depending in the weather and folks really look forward to outdoing each other’s dish. What better way to build a community than over a great meal!
