Saturday, November 6, 2021
Drive Thru Take-Outs ONLY:
4:00 p.m. until Sold Out
Menu:
roast beef
mashed potatoes and gravy
squash
cranberry relish & coleslaw
a roll
a slice of apple or pumpkin pie
Cost:
$14.00 per dinner
A review of the dinner’s history shows the first entry in church records about the fall supper occurred in 1916. In those days, the menus varied, some years fresh pork, sometimes ham, sometimes chicken. However, for the past 75 years or so, roast beef has been served. The Chili Pres Annual Roast Beef Dinner has become a community institution that everyone looks forward to and this year is no exception. Last year, in 2020, we were sold out at 5:30 pm and sold 425 meals!
During the 1920’s, 30’s, and 40’s and probably even before, the supper was served in the balconies of the sanctuary. The room over the narthex was used as the kitchen. Water was carried by hand from across the street, dinner was cooked on kerosene stoves without vents, and there was only a single sink! Preparing these dinners was difficult and hot!!! Yet, it was not uncommon to serve over 200 people in three seatings. The balconies could seat 38 people on each side, thus a maximum of 76 people per seating. Of course, the church now has a dining room and in recent years between sit-down and take-out served about 500 people on average.
Be sure to put Chili Presbyterian’s Annual Roast Beef dinner on your calendar. Everyone knows the dinner is the best value in town!
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