Come one, come all to Christmas dinner

Christmas will be here before we know it, and Cloquet’s Dave Johnson wants to make sure nobody is left out.

Everyone is invited to the 25th annual Cloquet Area Community Christmas Day dinner at 2 p.m. Christmas Day at Zion Lutheran Church, 1000 Washington Ave., Cloquet.

No money? Don’t worry, it’s free.

Need a ride? Someone will pick you up.

Can’t leave home? Volunteers will also be delivering meals.

However — and this is important — anyone who wants transportation or a meal delivered must call the Zion Lutheran Church by noon Sunday, Dec. 23 to get on the list.

Volunteers are also asked to call Zion by Sunday.

This year’s meal is supported by donations from ministry, individuals and businesses, said Johnson.

“We’ll have 40-plus donors by the time this is done,” said the long-time organizer.

He explained that the free Christmas dinner started 25 years ago as an outreach effort by the church.

“Then it got so big it basically became its own entity,” Johnson said, explaining that the church is still very involved and hosts the dinner, but they get volunteers from all over, even outside the state.

“We’ve had volunteers from Silver Bay, the Twin Cities, Wisconsin, and Ed Baumann’s son, his wife and two daughters from California,” Johnson said. “Of course, most of them are here visiting relatives.”

Johnson said he expects to serve close to 700 dinners, between those who come to the church to eat, carry out food, or order a meal delivered.

Dinner will include roasted ham, meatballs from B&B Market, and side orders including potatoes and gravy, vegetables and rolls. They have 50 fruit pies coming from Super One and two cakes coming from The Exchange. Appetizers include shrimp, fruit and veggie trays. Of course there will be Christmas cookies. And there will be lots of giveaways, on top of all the free food.

Santa Claus is coming to the dinner too, so kids can talk to him about their wishes for Christmas and beyond.

What is Johnson’s top wish for Christmas?

Pray for good weather, he said.