Emanuel chicken dinner coming up Feb. 24

They're back!

Emanuel Church's popular monthly dinners, once a social staple in Manchester, were interrupted by COVID. But you can't keep good women down, and the event has now been safely resurrected by Emanuel members Dawna Stockwell and Kathy O'Mara. Stockwell is in charge of the cooking and O'Mara coordinates all the volunteers needed to run the drive-through dinners.

"I worked with Dawna in her catering business while I was in college," O'Mara said. "So I'm used to her style and we work together pretty well. And we are providing a home-cooked meal to the community in a safe way ... and at a really great price!"

These dinners will be held the fourth Wednesday of each month going forward, and serving will be from 4:30 - 7 pm. "Hometown favorites" will be on the menu each month, so you can plan for a night out of the kitchen (if not out of the house!) at least every fourth Wednesday. At a great price of $10 per meal, the price and the food are all family-friendly.

"We can't do sit down dinners at this time, due to COVID regulations, and we can't serve inside," O'Mara explained. "We wanted to be able to do this safely, and to reach out to our community, and we have done the trailer thing but in the winter we needed a different solution. So the drive-through seemed like the best option."

Last month's Mexican dinner was a success with cars were lined up behind the church ready to pick up well ahead of the 4:30 pm opening time. Coordinating drink selections to-go were also provided by River Raisin Distillery, just around the corner, and that also was a popular stop for many patrons! The distillery has promised to coordinate their drink menus with the dinners each month, so it will be interesting to see what they choose to complement this month's chicken dinner.

March is planned to be a Swiss Steak dinner and April is hoped to be Sauerkraut. Stay tuned for more tasty temptations each month.

The proceeds from the dinner go to the church's general fund to support its mission of serving the Manchester community in as many ways as possible.

"In difficult times, this is a good fund-raiser for us and helps us all to support the church—whether we're buying dinners or helping out," said O'Mara. "It's a great way for everyone to give back a little something."

"Thanks for your support."

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.