FARMINGTON – It was an hour before the community luncheon was to begin and some people were already seated and ready to eat.

The volunteers on the kitchen, delivery and serving crews were busy as the dinner hour approached. In all, 29 people had shown up to assist with the meal Saturday at Henderson Memorial Baptist Church. One crew had a vegetable-peeling party on Friday.

The temperature in the basement kitchen Saturday was several degrees higher than in the dining area.

Ann Bryant, an organizer of the CARES free luncheon, was at the kitchen stove, where large pots of potatoes, squash and green beans were bubbling.

Another organizer, Gladys Russell, was working with Esther Bizier, 14, mixing dough, then rolling it out and cutting dozens of biscuits.

When people stepped out of the cold into the church’s upstairs hallway, tempting aromas of long, round hams and veggies hit the senses.

While he waited to deliver some of the meals, Bill Bryant was doing a variety of jobs. He said he has been helping out since the church started holding the luncheons as an outreach ministry.

“I like to do things like this,” Bryant said, “and I get a free dinner out of it.”

His wife, Dot Bryant, urged him to tell the truth: His daughter, Ann, had roped him into it, she said. That drew a chuckle from her husband.

Like a family

Henderson Memorial puts on six community meals a year, October through April, Dot Bryant said. These started with a Thanksgiving dinner in 1991, grew to seven dinners a year, and are now at six.

“He hasn’t missed any,” Dot Bryant said of her husband’s helping out. “I’ve missed a few.”

Dot Bryant was seated at a table in the hall outside the kitchen and dining areas checking a list of takeout requests. She said that when she first retired, she had cancer and couldn’t do much, but she could answer the phone. So she took on the takeout-meals organization.

Bryant had about 50 takeout requests at 11:15 and expected more.

Bizier, of Livermore, was taking her job as co-biscuit-maker seriously.

“I like helping knowing that I can make a difference,” Bizier said.

Bizier watched Russell’s adept hands move over the biscuit dough. They would make about 400 biscuits by the time they were done.

Russell said she likes cooking and helping people. And the other reason church members put on the luncheons, Russell said, is it’s fun.

“We get together as a family,” she said.

Gary Wolcott was washing dishes. Austin Kendall was mashing potatoes as Ann Bryant brought over the pots of boiling vegetables to the sink for draining.

Skip Wyman was busy slicing ham.

A group of volunteers was waiting in an assembly line to assemble the takeout dinners.

By the end of the luncheon, volunteers had served a total of 217 meals. Of that number, 107 were for guests at the church, with 81 meals delivered to others. And the hungry volunteers also received meals.