A Long Standing Tradition

Saturday, November 8, 2025, Bethany sees the return of a long standing tradition, the Harvest Dinner. This meal is legendary. Now, I am not sure when it started, but I do know that in 1988 when I first started attending Bethany, it was a very old and revered (sometimes feared) tradition. Back in the day, before my day, they served homemade biscuits with the meal. Other than switching to store bought rolls, not much else about the meal changed, and it was always the first weekend in November. The ladies of the church had everything worked out perfectly, and the meal employed many to accomplish. There were people to toast the bread for the dressing. There were different people to make the dressing. People to cook the turkeys and people to come to the church and weigh the turkey servings, so we were sure to have the same amount on every plate.  There were more people to serve the sides,  and those to wait the tables. Not to mention ladies to make all the lovely cakes, and I don’t mean some ol’ bundt cake. I am talking about a three-layer beauty. It was quite the production. It was not unusual to serve over 200 plates. People lined up outside of the church to wait for the doors to be unlocked. No reservations, no pre-orders, just pure trust and faith that the people would come --and they did. Bethany even continued the tradition when our church building burned. The Arapahoe Baptist Church let us cook and serve our meal there. However, shortly after we were in the beautiful new building, the Harvest Dinner stopped. I do not remember why or for how long we were without it, but it has been missed. People in the community are always asking me, “When is Bethany doing its Harvest Dinner again? I want to be sure to come when you do.” When things go on for that long, people miss them. I’ve noticed that especially our younger people have longed for its return. I believe it is tied in with their happy memories of childhoods spent here. The repetition with little change makes an impact on fresh minds. I do not know if the ladies will decide to do the Harvest Supper again next year, but this year, at long last, we have it again. Hooray!!

  …Melissa Watson