ELKTON — More than two dozen students at Elkton Middle School and their parents cooked a special Christmas meal Saturday. So about 150 families drove to the school to pick up a dinner of spaghetti, salad, fruit and a dessert.
That’s an increase over last year’s 140.
Students from the family and consumer science class volunteered to create a meal fit for a king — or perhaps three of them. The families stopped by to pick them up.
Nicholas Zimmerman, the class teacher, invited his students and their parents to prepare a meal for people in need in Elkton. Students got to work on the cooking at about 8 a.m., and by noon, they were assembling the meals for the families who arrived at 1 p.m.
Last year was the first year the spaghetti dinner was held at Elkton Middle School. Before that, Zimmerman was at Central High School in Woodstock and made the Christmas spaghetti there.
Why spaghetti? Because it’s easy to cook, and it keeps for a while. It’s cost-effective, and when paired with a salad, it’s a complete meal. The spaghetti dinner can also be broken down into many simple steps that students can do.
And it’s fun.
Jacob Myers, president of the local chapter of the Family Career Community Leaders of America club, described how he got involved.
“I just thought it would be a good community service project, and I enjoy helping people,” he said.
He spent the morning cooking up 60 pounds of hamburger for the spaghetti sauce, then switched over to pouring croutons into small to-go containers for the salad.
“I have slight experience with cooking,” he said.
There were three rooms of activity. In one of them, three teens were hard at work making Oreo balls. The recipe was simple. Thoroughly crush three bags of Oreos, then combine with a tub of cream cheese and roll them into roughly golf-sized balls. Put in the freezer to chill, and after an hour or so, apply frosting and sprinkles.
They were also trying not to laugh.
“We’re not really used to getting photographed,” said Bella Zimbrol.
“Photographyed. That’s a new one, Bella,” answered Hailey Bowers.
“It sounded right, at the moment,” Zimbrol answered.
All these students gathered at the Oreo table were returning for their second year. Zimbrol and Bowers returned to the middle school from the high school, where they are freshmen. And no one grabbed an Oreo ball while making them — all of them except for Aspin Gray.
“They usually taste better after they’ve been in the fridge for a little bit,” said Delanee Holloway.
For Zimbrol, the most challenging part was coordinating all the different parts to ensure everything was ready for the noon deadline.
Bowers said the FCCLA club has helped her learn more about the community,
“Doing more, like these activities, helping out in my community, made me realize that little things we can do have big impacts,” she said.
Holloway said she’s thinking about becoming a nurse.
“Something to do with little kids,” she said.
Bowers enjoyed coming back to the middle school.
“Getting to see old classmates and spend time with my friends, who are also doing something for a club that we’re a part of,” she said.
The hard part is keeping busy.
“Because if you’re standing there, you’re just taking up space. It’s good to be productive,” she said as she stirred the sauce, cooking in a giant tub.
In the same room, in the far corner, Cassie Mowbrey was chopping vegetables for the salad and onions and bell peppers for the spaghetti sauce. She got involved because she’s Zimmerman’s cousin. The work was similar to what she does for the Rotary Club.
“I’m just here as a volunteer,” she said. “I just happened to be free today, so I signed up.”
Mowbrey said she enjoys interacting with the students and knowing that the food is going to families who might need a hot meal for the holidays.
“It’s a lot of good publicity for the school, and showing them that they can be involved in the community,” she said.
Lindsay Bowers, Hailey’s mother, was there to make sure everyone had the ingredients they needed. That morning, there were no difficulties.
“It just runs like clockwork, it runs smoothly. Just great. Well oiled,” said Donna Mowbray,
“It’s a good group of kids who all understand their mission is to give something back,” she said.
Emily Holloway was there as the former principal at Elkton, an employee of the central office, and the mother of Delanee.
“It’s been a lot of fun. It’s just a great time to get together, enjoy being together, and work together — just the fellowship and conversation. But also knowing that you’re doing something for others in the meantime, and volunteering. So it’s personally rewarding while having fun,” she said.
Dining and Cooking