Community dinner set for Christmas

Havre Daily News staff

A decades-old tradition is again coming to Havre for the holiday, with the Community Christmas Dinner set to run in the Havre Eagles Club Monday.

Eagles Club Manager Tom Farnham said the dinner will be served from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. in the club.

“Everyone is welcome,” he said.

Volunteers, Havre Jaycees and others, will be delivering meals from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday to people who can’t get out, he said. If people need a meal delivered, they need to call the North Central Senior Citizens Center at 265-5464 before 5 p.m. Friday to request it, he added.

The event is free, but Farnham said a free-will donation bucket will be set up, “to help keep it going.”

The dinner originally was put together by local resident Bob Sivertsen, who, after some two decades, passed it on to the Bergren family, who put the meal together for about 10 years.

Farnham said he has been the organizer for about four years, but it is not really an Eagles event, just held there. Donations of money and time by countless community businesses, organizations and residents are what make the event happen, he said.

The delivery drivers are set, but people are welcome to help with the meal at the club Monday, Farnham said.

“All they have to do is show up and say, ‘Put me to work,’” he said.

The meal at the Eagles typically serves 650 to 700 people, Farnham said.