Dynamic dinner

WASILLA — Tons of turkey, heaps of ham and prodigious amounts of punished potatoes paled in comparison to the overflowing holiday spirit served up Thursday in the Wasilla High School cafeteria at the annual Christmas Day Dinner.

More than 1,000 people hungry for a tasty holiday meal and camaraderie attended this year’s dinner, the 17th for the event, said dinner committee organizer Elsie O’Bryan.

“It has been so wonderful, absolutely wonderful,” she said.

While those who spent part of their Christmas at the dinner helped pack away 59 turkeys, 700 pounds of ham, 500 pounds of potatoes, 60 pounds of carrots and 20 gallons of gravy, it was the eating habits of Santa Claus that caught the attention of 4-year-old Korynn Ondera.

“Santa ate all my cookies,” she said. “He ate all the cookies and drank all the chocolate milk.”

A notorious sweet-tooth, Santa was quickly forgiven, Ondera said. “No turkey for Santa.”

Santa (a.k.a. Tom Kopaceski, a part-time employee at Wal-Mart) took refuge at the dinner following a busy night of delivering gifts around the world. He was impressed with the work the some 300 volunteers do to put on such a successful event.

“This is fantastic,” he said. “A lot of effort goes into this.”

Some of those volunteers are members of the Compton family. Mike Compton said helping behind the scenes to feed hundreds of hungry people is a good way for his children to keep the spirit of Christmas in perspective.

“We’re here just to help others, bring our kids here so they can learn the Christmas spirit,” he said. “We’re going to eat and go do dishes.”

For Lolly Symbol, the Christmas Day Dinner is a never-miss tradition. She attending this year’s feed with her children and her grandfather.

“We’ve been coming here since [the dinner] was at the senior center,” she said. “We keep the tradition going. It’s really great.”

Holiday music and performances helped keep the event lively, and many of the decorations were made by local students, O’Bryan said. What she notices every year is how such a broad cross-section of the Valley community comes together for at least a few hours on Christmas.

“I’m seeing business leaders and political leaders and families, all together,” she said. “The atmosphere here is like being an excited teenager, and this is the highlight of the year. It’s pretty indescribable.”

Every stuffed tummy and every trip back for seconds (or, for 128 local shut-ins, meals delivered to their homes) is the thanks Bob Bowers gets for his annual labor of love. Since the dinner’s inception, Bowers has been in charge of cooking the meal. And, in 17 years, he’s never had a complaint that the food wasn’t delicious or satisfying.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2268.