Christmas Dinner

 The Williamsport Ministerium invites the public to the fifth annual Shepherd’s Table Christmas dinner. The free dinner is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Christmas Day at Rehoboth United Methodist Church, 30 E. Salisbury St., Williamsport. Organizers says the Shepherd???s Table Christmas dinner is open to anyone who needs a hot meal or who will be alone on Christmas Day. For more information, call 301-582-3454 or go to www.rehobothumc.org.

Shirley Mae Hutson used to roast venison from a deer that she or her husband, Donald,  shot for Christmas dinner. Then Donald, a carpenter, stopped hunting after he fell 9 feet onto concrete during a job, said Donald Hutson, 75, who lives in the Huyetts Crossroads area. So turkey became the new Christmas Day entree. But for the past three or four Christmases, the Hutsons have gotten their Christmas dinner from the Shepherd's Table at Rehoboth United Methodist Church on East Salisbury Street in Williamsport.

Although she's Jewish and does not celebrate Christmas, Lynne Newman has helped thousands of Chambersburg area residents have a better holiday for the past two decades. Under Newman's direction for the 20th consecutive year, about 200 volunteers gave up part of their Christmas Day to put on a free turkey dinner and give out presents at the Franklin County Salvation Army lunchroom in Chambersburg. “I don't care if I celebrate Christmas or not. That's not what's important,” Newman said.

SMITHSBURG - A Christmas dinner and party sponsored by the Washington County Commission on Aging will be Thursday, Dec. 14, at 11 a.m. at the Smithsburg senior site at 29 Blue Mountain Estates. The program will be titled "Story of the Elves. "

laurae@herald-mail.com After 17 years and thousands of free turkey dinners, there will be no Christmas With Nick this year. Founder Nick Giannaris said that for health reasons, he can't host the popular Christmas feast that has drawn up to 1,500 guests each year. "I'm sorry I couldn't," said Giannaris, 79, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Key volunteers for the holiday luncheon at Giannaris' Four Points Sheraton hotel said they have mixed feelings.

Chefs cook free Christmas dinner Editor's note : This is the last in a series of stories running on the 12 days before Christmas to recognize individuals and groups who make the holidays better for others. By DAN KULIN / Staff Writer Christmas starts at work for Scott Stouffer and Larry Hawkins. The two kitchen chefs at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel on Dual Highway in Hagerstown oversee the food preparations for Christmas dinner at the hotel restaurant.

FREDERICK, Md. - The Frederick Rescue Mission will serve a traditional Christmas Day dinner on Christmas Day. Dinner will be served at the Beacon House at 419 W. South St. The dinner is free and open to the community. The meal will be served from noon to 4 p.m. The mission also will serve a New Year's Day dinner at the Beacon House on Jan. 1, 2006. The meal will be served from noon to 4 p.m. The community is welcome at both dinners. For more information, call 301-695-6633, ext. 104.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The people who attend Lynne Newman's synagogue don't celebrate Christmas, but for two decades they've given their time to ensure others are able to enjoy the holiday. The Congregation Sons of Israel started its Christmas meal as a way to free up time for the regular workers at The Salvation Army in Chambersburg, Newman said. She said the effort has "grown exponentially," considering that the volunteers now serve hundreds at the Salvation Army and deliver 100 additional meals to shut-ins, senior citizens, the 911 center and police.

bonnieb@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Lynne Newman and her husband, John, left their Chambersburg home at 5:30 a.m. Christmas morning to put more turkeys in the Salvation Army's oven, prepare two huge pans of stuffing and do the many other tasks necessary to feed dinner to 300 people. "Mrs. Newman is quite a woman. Santa Claus is not a man, it's a woman," said Laura Loose, a teacher at Shippensburg (Pa.) Area Middle School, who volunteers at the annual Salvation Army Christmas dinner every year with members of the school's Student Council.

tammyb@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - For the last 16 years, Hagerstown businessman Nick Giannaris has sponsored a free Christmas Day luncheon at the Four Points Sheraton for people who had no place else to go. This year he had second thoughts. "Last year I read something in the paper that really upset me," Giannaris said Thursday. "Someone said he came just to take his wife out of the kitchen. " Taking the wife out of the kitchen wasn't the reason Giannaris and a squad of volunteers left their own families every Christmas to put on the annual feast, he said.

Shirley Mae Hutson used to roast venison from a deer that she or her husband, Donald,  shot for Christmas dinner. Then Donald, a carpenter, stopped hunting after he fell 9 feet onto concrete during a job, said Donald Hutson, 75, who lives in the Huyetts Crossroads area. So turkey became the new Christmas Day entree. But for the past three or four Christmases, the Hutsons have gotten their Christmas dinner from the Shepherd's Table at Rehoboth United Methodist Church on East Salisbury Street in Williamsport.

Ed and Peggy Townsend of Manchester, Mich., spent Christmas Tuesday serving holiday dinners to a lot of folks they didn't know. Another couple, Chris Elmer, a math professor at Shepherd University, and Cathy Malast, who live in Shepherdstown, came to Asbury United Methodist Church at 110 W. Church St. because they “wanted to be with some people on Christmas.” Bill Ball, a lay minister, was there to volunteer at what was the church's third...

A foam meal tray is pulled from a tower of trays and moved down a row of tables, where someone places a slice of ham in the tray, and then another volunteer tops it with a slice of turkey. Then a scoop of stuffing, a spoonful of buttered green beans, a plop of roasted potatoes and a ladle full of gravy are added. The tray is closed and slid around the corner of tables, where someone packs it into a red reusable Meritus Health bag. Another container, holding a slice of pumpkin pie, a roll, cranberry sauce and whipped spread is added to the bag. At least 200 volunteers were busy cooking, packing and delivering hot meals Monday morning and afternoon for approximately 2,300 Washington County residents on Christmas Eve. This was the 11th year for the Lend-A-Hand Dinner sponsored by Meritus Medical Center's medical staff and Medical Emergency Professionals, which is the contracted group that staffs the medical center's Emergency Department, said Dr. Stephen Kotch from the medical center's Emergency Department.

Donations of toys and food are still needed for the annual Christmas Day dinner in Franklin County, Pa. Tuesday's dinner is sponsored by the Salvation Army and run by volunteers, including Lynne Newman, who is organizing the event for the 21st year. Doors open at noon at the Salvation Army building at 159 Lincoln Way West in Chambersburg, and dinner will be served until 2 p.m. Deliveries to shut-ins and others who need a Christmas meal begin normally between 10:30 and 11 a.m. Volunteers decorate the lunch room for the holiday and wrap presents as well as help cook, cut up turkeys and deliver the meals to shut-ins and serve those who come to the Salvation Army.

Last week's rain delayed the luminarias display in the churchyards along High Street and  the organizers are going to try again Saturday. The candle-lighting display will take place in the historic Hancock churchyards and in Widmeyer Park. The display in Widmeyer Park was already planned for this Saturday, so it will be an evening of lights in Hancock.  If you wish to help assemble, place and light the luminarias in the cemeteries around and behind St. Thomas' Episcopal and St. Peter's Catholic churches, plan to arrive about 10 a.m. in the back of the St. Peter's parking lot. Dress warmly for the weather.

As you pass the beautiful Christmas tree at Hagerstown City Park, smile and enjoy. The Colorado Blue Spruce came from Williamsport, donated by Harold Burgesser. Thank you, Harold. Your generous gift is enhancing the Christmas spirit for everyone.   Cookie sale to benefit child care center Kinder Haven Child Care Center will hold its fourth annual cookie sale and holiday open house Saturday beginning at 7 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 35 W. Potomac St. The cookie sale will offer a variety of homemade cookie selections.

A new Hagerstown Area Youth Basketball League is forming. Registration will be for players in fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Registration will be Thursday, Nov. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m., Monday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. All players must bring a copy of their birth certificate. Registration will be at St. James Brethren Church, 17718 Lappans Road in St. James. All games and practices will be on Monday and Tuesday.

Although she's Jewish and does not celebrate Christmas, Lynne Newman has helped thousands of Chambersburg area residents have a better holiday for the past two decades. Under Newman's direction for the 20th consecutive year, about 200 volunteers gave up part of their Christmas Day to put on a free turkey dinner and give out presents at the Franklin County Salvation Army lunchroom in Chambersburg. “I don't care if I celebrate Christmas or not. That's not what's important,” Newman said.

 Ham? Check. Turkey? Check. Mashed potatoes? Check. A place to share the joy of Christmas with others? Check. It was not just food but fellowship that was on the menu Sunday at a community Christmas dinner at Rehoboth United Methodist Church in Williamsport. Free and open to “everyone and anyone,” the dinner was hosted by The Shepherd's Table, a soup kitchen that holds regular community dinners on Thursday nights, organizer Bill Eckard said. This was the sixth year The Shepherd's Table hosted a Christmas dinner, Eckard said.

“Turkey. We need turkey,” a volunteer for the Lend-A-Hand Dinner said on Christmas Eve. Considering the setting, she might have added, “Stat!” One hundred or more volunteers, many of them emergency room physicians, nurses and staff, were putting together turkey and ham holiday dinners on Saturday at Robinwood Professional Center near Hagerstown. Another 100 volunteers, including ambulance crews, were involved in delivering the 2,500 meals to families and senior citizens around Washington County, said Dr. Stephen Kotch, chairman of emergency medicine at the adjacent Meritus Medical Center.