Joanne Winer
QUARTZSITE TIMES
November 18th, 2005
Celia’s Rainbow Gardens
is funded through donations and fund-raisers and the major fund-raiser for the
year is the annual All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner.
This year, the event will be held on Nov. 18 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the
Quartzsite Senior Citizens Center on Moon Mountain Rd.
Featured on the menu is salad, garlic bread, spaghetti (all you can eat),
dessert and drink, all for a $5 donation to the Gardens. There will be some
great entertainment again this year with the return of Jerry Mullins and his
band, a group which has played for many years as a contribution to the Gardens.
Each year, the dinner draws more people, and is now serving over 250 plates.
People come to eat some delicious food, listen to some great entertainment and
dance the night away. They come back year after year to show their support for
Celia’s Rainbow Gardens.
The money raised this year will be used to further the work on the Heroes area
in the Gardens. For further information, please call Joanne at 927-6551.
Update 12/3/04
“We served over 250
meals last year and considered it a success then, but this year really surprised
us with over 450 meals served,” Winer said. “We didn’t expect so many more to
come out this year but we managed to get them all fed.”
The spaghetti dinner is the major fund-raiser for the Gardens and the money
raised this year will be used to get the Heroes area worked on and hopefully
done over this winter. The area has been set aside to honor those men and women
who risk their lives every day to benefit others.
The dinner was supposed to start at 5 p.m., but people were already lining up at
4:30 so they opened the doors at 4:45 and the rush was on.
People were lined up as far back as Solar City at one time, but the lines kept
going smoothly and the food was served quickly by the volunteers.
“I could not have been doing this dinner for so many years without the help of
the volunteers who come back every year and help,” Winer said. “We now have it
down to a science and it runs very smoothly for the most part, we just didn’t
expect so many to come at once this year, and there were a few glitches, but we
managed to do it again thanks to my great help.”
Jerry Mullins and his band entertained for most of the evening, with Stillwater
band joining in later in the evening. These two bands have been part of the
entertainment for the spaghetti dinner and the party in the park in March for
the past several years. They have given their time to help with these events,
and have made it a great time for everyone who comes.
Special thanks go to the General Store and Snyder’s Discount Groceries, who came
to the rescue when the food started to run out and had to be replenished at the
last minute.
“A very special thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the dinner, the
bands and Helen and Earl and the Senior Citizens Center for setting up the rooms
and helping get things organized so that this event runs so well,” Winer said.
“And of course, a big thank you to everyone who came out and joined in the fun,
your support is greatly appreciated.”