Hollister
– When the organizers of the Holte Memorial Christmas Dinner
arrived Christmas morning to begin preparation of the big holiday
meal, they did a quick inventory.
Hollister – When the organizers of the Holte Memorial Christmas Dinner arrived Christmas morning to begin preparation of the big holiday meal, they did a quick inventory.
There was plenty of turkey, mashed potatoes and dressing. But no pies.
A miscommunication with the Girl Scouts of San Benito County, who have provided homemade pies each year for the dinner, left organizers with nothing sweet to top off the holiday dinner, said Mandy Rose, an organizing committee member.
“When no pies showed up we said, ‘This is kind of weird,'” Rose said. “This has never happened before.”
But several calls from San Benito County Supervisor Pat Loe netted five pies and several boxes of cookies from Superior Bakery’s extra stash. Bakery employees just happened to be working Christmas morning on a delivery and answered Loe’s call.
Rose made a trip to Albertson’s and bought five more pies. Loe called Safeway and secured donations of the store’s extra Mexican bread cookies, slices of cake, turnovers and cinnamon rolls, she said.
“Pat Loe was pretty instrumental,” Rose said. “She made all the calls and went to Safeway to pick them up.”
Gayle Hendricks, an organizing committee member, said 345 people turned out at Sacred Heart School to enjoy the traditional Christmas Day dinner and gifts from Santa – more than she expected.
“We had a line outside of the building like you wouldn’t believe,” Hendricks said.
Victoria Fernquist of Hollister had volunteered to help deliver bags of food to those unable to attend the dinner. Unsure when she should show up, Fernquist and her two children were among the first volunteers arriving at 8am.
“We asked, ‘OK, what do you want us to do? You have three able-bodied people here,'” Fernquist said.
Fernquist and her two children helped peel potatoes and prepare food. She and Ruben Lopez chopped garlic, chilies and cilantro to make a spicy salsa.
The volunteer work filled Fernquist with a sense of accomplishment.
“The more the merrier, and it’s a wonderful feeling to get involved locally,” Fernquist said. “I think it’s a real community effort.”
In addition to feeding the 345 people who showed up at Sacred Heart School, organizers delivered 40 prepared dinners to people unable to attend the dinner and distributed an additional 100 bags of food, Hendricks said.
Gifts from Santa Claus, who visits the dinner every year, were plentiful.
The Mansmith family, who smoke turkeys for the Holte Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners every year, donated two cases of tri tip for this year’s dinner, Hendricks said.
“We had a really wonderful Christmas,” Hendricks said.
With children comprising two-thirds of the guests, the organizing committee was left with extra food, Rose said.
Rose called the dinner a success, but said the committee would continue to tinker with the dinner’s format.
“We’re still noting that less people are coming here,” Rose said. “The direction we’re going in is probably moving into more food bags.”
The food bags are stocked to provide a holiday meal for four.
The number of guests attending has decreased every year from a peak of more than 800 people, reflecting a possible need for more deliveries.
But certain things never change.
“We still ended up needing extra help for cleanup,” Rose said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected].
