It started with a need.
The Swan’s Island Baptist Church belfry needed structural repair, and two of the church ladies agreed a benefit banquet would be one good means of raising money for the project, all in accordance with the history of the church as written by Norman Staples’s mother back in the 1950s.
The planning started for 70 diners, and the menu selected included both ham and turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, copper penny carrots, stuffing, cranberry sauce, hot and cold drinks, fresh garden picked salad, and gingerbread with real whipped cream, to be served from 5:30 to 7:00 PM.
Donations of food and money were requested and people came forward splendidly. Some people contributed to the belfry repair, some to the banquet, and enthusiasm began to build. At the church social hour the Sunday before the banquet, one lady from the Atlantic Apartments asked, “You’re only planning for 70? Everyone I talk to is eagerly planning to come. They’re all looking forward to it.” Target attendance was raised to 100.
People were enlisted to gather the necessary supplies, from island sources or off island. Most of the supplies were donated. The General Store contributed a turkey and the dairy products. Others contributed turkeys, hams, cooking and preparation. Tables and chairs were lent from the Advent Christian Church. One turkey was cooked the day before. Four turkeys were baked, weighing a total of 62 pounds. Two 20-pound hams added variety and very little was left over afterwards. Six ladies peeled 70 pounds of potatoes, and these were boiled and mashed the day of the dinner.
The church and annex windows were opened early Wednesday morning to the cooling breezes. Supplies were brought over to church as they became available. Turkeys and hams were baked and carved; gravy was made from pan drippings. Peas and carrots were prepared. Food was to be over to church by 4 pm.
At five o’clock there were well over a dozen diners sitting expectantly at the dining tables, enjoying conversations, anticipating the banquet. Serving started soon afterwards and by 5:30 more than 24 people were eating, with the waiting line running around the tables in the annex to the serving counter with its steam table for the mashed potatoes, the crock pots for the peas and stuffing, the cold copper penny carrots, the sliced turkey and ham fresh from the oven, with coffee, tea and ice water on the tables, set up in the annex and church nave.
By 7 pm most people had eaten and gone on their way, enjoying their memories of good and ample supper and sociability. Some 140 people had been served during the evening, and the preparation, serving and cleanup crew were enthusiastic with the success and friendliness and appreciation for the affair by all participants. No individuals have been singled out for appreciation of their efforts because of the inevitability of missing one or more of those who enthusiastically assisted the production.
– By Al Layton
Swan’s Island