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Volunteer Steve Hardy pours coffee for Leo and Linda Cardin during a free Christmas dinner Thursday hosted by the First Congregational Church in South Paris. The Cardins were among the first to arrive to the event. Hardy has volunteered at the Christmas Day event for 20 years or more, he said.
Volunteers Mike Murphy, left, and Ann Speth fill a pot with broccoli before the first guests arrive for Christmas dinner. Murphy and his wife, Barbara, have been volunteering at the event for a quarter of a century.
Barbara Murphy smiles Thursday while speaking to a fellow volunteer and scooping steaming hot ham into a tray to refill a serving station. Murphy and her husband have been volunteering at the church Christmas dinner for a quarter of a century.
Guests make their way down the line of volunteers serving vegetables, including by Phoebe Call, at right. Fifteen volunteers bought, prepared, cooked, and served at the event in expectation of some 150 meals to be given out in person, not counting to-go requests.
The First Congregational Church in South Paris is seen on Christmas Day. Inside, nearly every seat was filled with visitors who partook in the free Christmas dinner.
Volunteers Steve Sutch and Richard Carl dole out turkey and stuffing Thursday. Almost all of the hot food was purchased by volunteers, including approximately 112 pounds of turkey.
Volunteers Linda Russell, background center, and Janet Bilyeu, right, handle the dessert table for Thursday’s free Christmas dinner. Bilyeu, of Florida, was one of only three first-timers — out of 15 overall — volunteering for the annual event. She is in town visiting family including fellow volunteer Barbara Murphy.
A tray of colorful Christmas cookies are seen on the dessert table for Thursday’s free Christmas meal. The majority of the dessert items were baked and donated by members of the church. Offerings included pie, cookies, brownies, chocolates and more.
Barbara Murphy smiles Thursday while visiting tables, including that of Leo and Linda Cardin, during a free community dinner at First Congregational Church in South Paris.
Michael Higgins partakes in a free Christmas dinner hosted by the First Congregational Church in South Paris. Volunteers expected to serve about 150 hot meals during the 90 minute dinner, allowing people to also take to-go containers to others who weren’t able to attend in person.

Libby Kamrowski Kenny is a staff photographer at the Sun Journal who came aboard in June 2025. She’s been in journalism longer than that though, as her prematurely graying hair can attest, starting as...