Christmas community dinner a favorite with seniors

While Owatonna’s Christmas Day community dinner is attended by a wide variety of people, it also draws a large number of seniors, and this year was no exception.

Most of those attending said they were at the dinner because their family get-togethers had already happened or were still to come, and they wanted to celebrate Christmas with others.

“I came early with my daughter,” said Pat Vogt. She said she had already celebrated with her family and, in fact, “I have had family dinners all week.”

“This is so special,” she said of dinner held at the Owatonna VFW. “It’s fun. I enjoy it.”

Owatonna resident Bob Haberman said he retired last August. He is single and had been a caregiver to his parents until their deaths. His dad, he said, died in 2012 and his mom in 2022. He has a brother and two sisters, he said, but they do not live in the area, so he comes to the community dinner.

“I was born and raised here,” he added, “but I barely know anybody because of the time I took off to take care of family.”

“The food is great,” he said, of the dinner.

Gary, who declined to give his last name, came down from Faribault because in his experience, Owatonna has the best Christmas dinner. He is a graduate of Owatonna High School, he said, which is how he knows about the annual dinner.

In addition, the meal served at the VFW, meals were also delivered.

Marleen Lundberg was among the many Owatonna residents who volunteered to help out. She said she decided to volunteer because none of her adult children were in town for the holidays. Her husband, Scott, volunteered for the first time last Christmas when she was in Japan visiting their son, she said.

She did whatever was needed, from carrying plates and helping with the take-outs, to simply greeting and talking with the diners.

“It’s so fun,” she said.

Lundberg added that more than 400 deliveries were requested this year.