The 72nd Wake Forest Community Christmas Dinner
By Jennifer Smart, Assistant Director
The Wake Forest Historical Museum
Here at the museum we’re deeply involved in planning for the 72nd annual Wake Forest Community Christmas Dinner. Durward Matheny and I serve on the steering committee along with Bev Whisnant, Carolyn Coordes, Connie Nourse, Jill Bright, Joe Paulonis, Frank Everitt, Martha Loftin, Mandy Duguid and Greg Harrington (this year’s chair). My job is to put together the program with artwork provided by Shirley Matheny and update the slideshow of past recipients of the Citizen of the Year and Peggy Allen Lifetime Achievement Awards. Jill organizes setup, cleanup and décor the day of the event. Carolyn manages the door prizes. Joe gets the poinsettias. And Greg is this year’s Master of Ceremonies.
The first Community Christmas Dinner was organized by the Wake Forest Garden and civic clubs back in 1947 as an effort to bring the town together in support of soldiers returning home from World War II. To make the celebration memorable, volunteers arranged to use the Community House on Owen Avenue and decorate it with armloads of live greenery, Christmas trees, and centerpieces. About 140 residents attended that first night (Shirley Wooten was among them), and a new tradition was born. The spirit of giving, sense of brotherhood, and good country cooking all came together to create the sort of rousing feeling that warms the soul. No wonder the organizers decided to repeat the magic every year! That’s why this dinner has been woven into every Wake Forest Christmas since and still ranks among the very best activities the town has to offer.
This year’s Community Christmas Dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, December 2, at the Forks Cafeteria at 339 South Brooks Street. Following an invocation offered by the Reverend David Miller, Parochial Vicar of Saint Catherine Catholic Church, David Greenwell and his cafeteria staff will open the buffet lines for a dinner of fried chicken, roast beef, baked apples, scalloped potatoes, carrots, broccoli casserole, dinner rolls and assorted desserts. We can top out at about 315 guests, and typically the entire cafeteria is full.
A brief program with music from the Wake Forest Youth Orchestra will follow the meal, and then Mayor Vivian Jones will recognize the winners of the Citizen of the Year, Organization of the Year, and Peggy Allen Lifetime Achievement awards. The evening will conclude with Hallie Arrington Hearn leading the room in a group singalong of the season’s most beloved Christmas carols.
The Wake Forest Community Christmas Dinner is still a perfect way to usher in the holidays and everyone’s invited to attend. Tickets are a bargain at $15 each and you can find them on sale now at the Forks Cafeteria, the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce, and the Wake Forest Historical Museum. You can also purchase tickets through our steering committee members, who represent local organizations such as the General James Moore Chapter of the DAR, the Wake Forest Woman’s Club, the Rotary Club, and the Wake Forest Historical Association. Checks can be made out to the Wake Forest Purple Heart Association.
Now is the time to take part in this very special tradition… we look forward to seeing you there!
(The Wake Forest Historical Museum, 919-556-2911, is at 414 North Main Street, Wake Forest. Admission is free. The museum is open from 10 to 12 and from 1:30 to 4:30 Tuesday through Friday, and from 2 to 5 on Sundays if there are volunteers to staff it.)
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