Pat Callies was wearing an elfin T-shirt on Christmas as she worked with family members to prepare dinners for far more people than she expected to serve.
As vehicles lined up on Washington Avenue outside the VFW, her son Tony was out delivering meals, her daughter-in-law Rachel was working with Diana Ingram from Sioux Falls to fill Styrofoam plates with dinner fixings, and her grandchildren were taking orders at the north door. She had received orders for 146 meals -- 23 home deliveries and 123 pick-ups.
"It's better than I thought it would be," Callies said as she sat down for a minute to talk.
She had been working with Tony and family friends for three days to prepare the meal. They started by roasting the turkeys on Wednesday. On Thursday, they peeled potatoes, cooked vegetables, made stuffing and gravy, and prepared the salad.
"All we had to do this morning was come in a plug in the roasters," Callies said.
As noon approached, three tables were set up to allow an assembly-line approach to serving the meals. On one, the food was set out much as it normally would be. However, this year, instead of having people coming through the line and indicating what they would like, Styrofoam trays were being filled.
On another table, sandwich bags held buns and cookies. On a third, the meals were placed in grocery bags with plastic eating utensils and tied shut. With each order, the number of meals requested was carried to the north door, delivered to the waiting vehicle, and the next order was taken.
In the days leading up to the annual Christmas dinner, Callies was hoping to serve at least 100 people, but she didn't know for sure what to expect. Usually, about 160 people attend the dinner, in part for the fellowship.
"It gets them out of the house," Callies said. "They come down and talk to people."
With the COVID-19 pandemic, that wasn't a safe option this year. However, she didn't want to simply abandon what has become a family tradition. Earlier in the week, she announced they would be preparing dinners for curbside pick-up and home deliveries.
She asked people to place orders in advance to assist with planning since fellowship wouldn't be part of the experience. The response was gratifying.
Callies explained the dinner is not an official VFW function, even though she is a member of the VFW Auxiliary. She became involved with the organization because her dad was a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy and was stationed at Pearl Harbor for a time.
"My dad was a good guy," she commented.
Over the years, the Christmas dinner has become a Callies family and friends event. Morgan Callies, a senior at Madison High School, can only remember one Christmas she didn't spend at the VFW. She was sick and unable to go; it didn't feel like Christmas to her.
"Christmas isn't about gifts. It's about helping others," she said.
When she was younger, she helped to clear the tables and talked with people. As she grew older, she became more involved in serving food and helping those who needed assistance.
"It's kind of disappointing this year because you can't talk to people and meet them face to face," Morgan said.
However, even without that aspect of the experience, helping to prepare the dinners enabled her to celebrate Christmas as she has all of her life. After pausing to speak briefly about spending Christmas at the VFW, she slipped back into helping to prepare meals.
Assisting Pat Callies, her son and his family were her daughter-in-law's aunt and uncle from Sioux Falls with their children. Service was scheduled to continue through 2 p.m., but Callies reported on Monday morning that they ran out of food by 1:30 p.m.
"I was so sad that we had to turn the last four cars away because we ran out of food," she said.
They served 175 people in an hour and a half -- more than they were expecting. After working to prepare dinners for the community, there weren't even scraps left for them to eat after their hard work.
"I don't think the kids even got a cookie," Callies said. "I told my son last night, `I'm still hungry for Christmas dinner'."
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