Food, food and more food.

It's what I love most about life in small towns, and probably what makes it so hard to go away. When loads of people come together for some good reason and work together to make everything happen and to be fun.

My father's community service group is getting together with two of the other service groups in town this week to have a pork chop sandwich dinner in the park to raise funds. (Pork chop sandwiches only work in Iowa, I swear.) And the church got together for it's annual fundraiser- which supports in part the church school, education programs, outreach programs, assistance for members in nursing homes or shut-ins, the re-run shops efforts and more things I'm not even sure of- and it was so amazing to watch.

Some people, like my mom, have been doing the same job for years, but they still love to do it. Yet they willingly let new people join in, help out or even took over as needed. The people who coordinate the fundraiser seem to change every couple of years, but each year there are always new ideas to help make it fun. It's a truly whole-church event; from the young kids of parents helping out all the way to the older members of the church. The supplies are all donated, food that is left over and doesn't go home with someone at the end of the day stays at the school to help out in the food budget, and volunteers clean up the area at the end of the day.

I think the part, if I had to choose, that I like best is at the end, when everyone is tired and trying to clean things up so they can get out of there, but everyone is still so polite and happy. And it's so easy to convince someone to take home the leftover mini cannolis (me), or the leftover homemade chicken and noodles (Perry, Meg, and Jenna's mom), or the remaining kolaches of mostly gooseberry and cottage cheese/raisin filling (too many people to name). You just remind them they don't want to cook tomorrow after all their work today. I love knowing that this benefits the church and in turn the community, and knowing that people got a good deal at the end of the day. Where else can you go to get about two carry-out trays of food for six dollars?

So if you're free the next second weekend of September, stop by, you get at least two scoops of chicken and noodles or cavatini per punch.