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By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
12-20-2008 A holiday happening that is as much a tradition as the Christmas parade or the ornaments adorning Main Street is the annual Christmas Dinner at the Bishop Senior Center.
This year marks the 21st anniversary for the dinner that brings together all walks of society to prepare meals and share the warmth of the holidays with locals who come to the dinner for the camaraderie and cheer as well as the roast beef.
Debbie Walden, senior center site coordinator, said this year they plan on dishing out more than 600 meals next Thursday, a pretty normal number. Walden and chef Stephanie Fletcher won’t be doing the cooking, which is an honored task taken up by an army of volunteers. Walden said she and Fletcher get things “half-way organized,” like having all the food in storage ready to go, and then the volunteers take over. These volunteers come from all walks of life, from the homeless to the affluent, Walden explained.
There will be a volunteer orientation meeting Monday for anyone interested in volunteering on Christmas day. The dinner is all volunteer driven and everything is dondated, from the food donations to the labor.
In fact, Walden said there are plenty of volunteers willing to do the cooking and cleaning, but she said the center is desperate for drivers to pick up and drop off folks who want to attend the meal but don’t have a ride, and to deliver meals to the homebound or those who just don’t want to leave the house. And, with ice on the ground, more snow predicted and morning temperatures in the single digits in and around Bishop, staying home for the holidays doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.
The dinner will be served or delivered to residents from one end of the valley to the other, in Lone Pine, Independence and Big Pine, Benton and Chalfant Valley, the Bishop Paiute Reservation and of course to Bishop residents.  Inyo County residents enjoy Christmas dinner at the Bishop Senior Center. File photo
Helping hands is what Walden said they need most to make the most of the dinner. She explained that locals have already donated more than enough food for the dinner of beef pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, ambrosia, salad, dinner rolls and a fine selection of pies and desserts.
In addition to the great food and company, there will be a host of entertainment from noon-3 p.m., including For the Love of Swing with Bill Schuck.
While Pete Watercott, the retired chef for the Senior Program that provides Meals-on-Wheels and sit-down lunches, is often credited with coming up with the idea, Watercott credits Sam Walker, former owner of Whiskey Creek, with the idea
Watercott said that Walker, his former employer, suggested the idea that in 1987, his first year as the senior center cook. Walker decided that as long as Whiskey Creek closed every Christmas, why not serve a free dinner. And so for the first three years the dinner was held at the Creek, until the creek was going through extensive remodeling and the dinner was moved to the more “casual setting” of the Senior Center.
Watercott said that it has been difficult to secure the largest donation, that of the entree, be it chicken or beef, but someone has always stepped up to the plate and filled it.
Watercott credited Barkley Meats of Reno and Jim Boyce of White Mountain Natural Beef Company of Fish Lake Valley as early and generous donors. For the last several years, the Inyo County Cattlemen’s Association has provided the beef for the event, which Watercott said has been come to be known as “The Beef Dinner.”
He added that every restaurant and grocery store in town pitches in donations every year.
“The one thing we really want to do is show people, especially singles, that they don’t have to be alone on Christmas,” Walden explained.
With the expected attendance at this year’s dinner, no one is going to be alone at the Senior Center this holiday season.
For more information about the dinner or for volunteering, call 873-5240.
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