CORNISH — Since 1978, the United Church of Cornish has been hosting monthly pot roast dinners from April-November.
But the beloved community meals are in jeopardy for 2020 unless the church — which has an active membership of six — can find volunteers to help.
“It’s the closest we’ve come,” to canceling the dinners, said the Rev. Dale Nicholas, who has served the church for 33 years. “We’re a shrinking elderly congregation, and we’re getting less and less folks to do this stuff.”
In a post on the Connect Cornish newsletter titled “URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE UNITED CHURCH OF CORNISH,” Nicholas wrote that the church needs a minimum of eight volunteers, with two for each of the following tasks: washing and drying dishes, serving food and drinks, setting up the dining tables and cleaning up once the dinners are complete. They also are looking for people to make pies.
The dinners are held at church on Center Road from 5-7 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month, April-November.
“We’ve tried doing December,” said Bill Balch, church moderator and chairman of the board of trustees. “The one year we tried it we got 6 inches of snow and we got stuck with a couple hundred pounds of meat, so we don’t try December anymore.”
Balch has been a member of the church since moving to Cornish in 1972 and has been helping with the dinners since the start.
“The first year we tried doing different ones, and they were very poor. We’d have 25 or 30 people coming,” Balch, 81, said. “One month, we put on pot roast and we had 75 people. We couldn’t believe it. So we switched over to pot roast.
“We haven’t changed the recipes one iota.”
And they’ve built a reputation on that fact. The meals typically draw 70-90 people from around the Upper Valley and beyond.
“We get people from Keene, we get people from down in the Lakes Region who come every month,” Nicholas said.
In addition to pot roast, the menu includes real mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet and sour cabbage, coleslaw, applesauce and a vegetable. For dessert, there are always homemade pies.
“The pot roast is to die for. It melts in your mouth,” said Nicholas, 73. “And it’s a good fellowship for the people who come. They’re not hurried. They stay and they talk.”
A few years ago, the dinners were in danger of ceasing for the same reason, but the community rallied together to keep the tradition alive.
“Like most small churches, we struggle to survive,” Nicholas said.
The congregation raises about $600 from each all-you-can-eat dinner, Balch said. It costs $6 for children and $12 for adults; preschoolers eat free.
“That’s a big portion of our budget income,” Nicholas said.
While the congregation holds other fundraisers including pie sales, a spaghetti buffet during the Cornish fair and refreshments at town events, if the dinners are canceled it would have a significant impact on the church’s financial stability.
“This is the major fundraiser,” Balch said. “We’d still try to go on, but it’s getting tough.”
When Nicholas came to the church 33 years ago, it had about 20 active members. At one point, it grew to about 50, but has since been on the decline.
“Then of course people moved away, people died,” Nicholas said. “But we continue to plug along.”
Editor’s note: For more information about the pot roast dinners or to volunteer, contact Nicholas at 603-542-8546 or Nicholas.dale231@gmail.com.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com.
