Annual 'Our House' meal attracts 2,307 diners

The 20th annual Christmas at Our House Dinner broke all records by serving 2,307 people Saturday at the Kalispell Armed Forces Reserve Center.

Hosted by the 495th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion of the Montana Army National Guard, the dinner provides a thank-you to the community for its support of members of the military.

Master Sgt. Randy Hunt said the Guard members and volunteers easily handled the surge in attendance over last year’s 1,703.

Leftover supplies were donated to the Salvation Army.

“We added 15 percent on everything in our general planning,” he said.

“We had a couple of things that we ran out and picked up when they were getting low.”

He said organizers kept a reserve fund from donations to handle last-minute purchases. Local businesses and organizations donate money and supplies to make the dinner possible.

According to Hunt, the crowd put away 58 turkeys, 44 hams and 2,000 pounds of potatoes after driving through a snow storm and winds to attend the festivities.

Volunteers began working Friday morning peeling potatoes and others cooked through the night to get the meal ready to start at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Although the forecast called for a severe winter storm and a lot of snow, Hunt said conditions were actually better this year compared to last year when temperatures were below zero.

He said he thought that better weather and extensive outreach and advertising helped turnout a crowd.

“We were figuring on around 2,000,” Hunt said. “We’re pretty happy we got 300 over that.”

He said a stream of hungry people kept the dinner going steadily all day.

The facility seated 500 people at one time.

Hunt has plans to improve a problem with traffic backing up with a shuttle service from the community college next year.

He takes over the reins of overseeing the event next year from Lt. Col. Mark Boettcher, who is scheduled to move to another area.

Hunt said this year provided a high bar to exceed in 2010 with the 21st annual dinner.

According to Hunt, people attending the event were amazed at the high quality of the food and atmosphere, which included music and a visit from Santa.

“Lot of people were pretty happy,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”