Food drive's biggest event this Friday

AMENIA — The Sunday in the Country Food Drive, a Tri-state initiative that provides Thanksgiving and Christmas meals for families in need each year, is gearing up for its largest fundraiser of the year Friday, Nov. 12.

This is the second year that the annual dinner dance will be held in the gymnasium at the Immaculate Conception Church on Lavelle Road in Amenia. Silo Ridge Country Club, which used to host the event, has been unable to due to upcoming construction plans, but has continued to donate all of the food served at the event.

Last year more than $50,000 was raised, which helped provide approximately 1,200 complete meals to more than a dozen food pantries in the Tri-state area.

Sunday in the Country founder and radio personality “NASCAR� Dave MacMillan estimated that approximately $13,000 in funds have come in already, which is about $1,000 short of where funds were last year just before the dinner dance. He attributed the shortage to tough times, and pointed out that Sunday in the Country would certainly be worse off if not for the smaller additional fundraisers that the group has become involved with this year, including the ski jumps in Salisbury last winter, the Millerton Lions Club Carnival during the summer and the Sharon Fire Department’s soap box car race.

Turkey flocks are also playing a big role, with several making the rounds in local municipalities and more towns requesting the popular fundraiser within their own neighborhoods. The flocks appear on unsuspecting residents’ lawns, who then have to pay to have them removed, and then go on to “flock� somebody else.

“The individual donations are down substantially, and we understand that, but we’ll have to work to keep those smaller events going year round if we’re going to keep up with demand,� MacMillan said.

Linda Gregory, who is the lead organizer for the dinner dance, announced some special live auction prizes that will be auctioned off by Dutchess County Sheriff “Butch� Anderson.

Included in the auction are: a sporting clay shoot for four, a muzzle loader, a flat-screen television and Blu-ray player, two NASCAR jackets, a limited edition die-cast car and, perhaps most impressively, a week’s stay in a nine-bedroom home in Orlando, Fla.

The dinner dance will begin at 6 p.m., with music provided throughout the night by longtime food drive collaborator deejay Joey D. Tickets are $20 each, or a separate table of 10 can be purchased for $250. The ticket price includes dinner and the first hour of free beer and wine.

“I think we’re very fortunate that people come out,� Gregory said. “They’re committed because they know that the money raised goes directly to the person or family. Everything is donated, from music to food to raffle prizes and auction items to the volunteers taking out the time to help. The Sunday in the Country Food Drive has touched so many people over the years, and we’re very fortunate to have the great donations we received this year.�

If you would like to make a private donation to the food drive, checks may be sent to Sunday in the Country Food Drive, PO Box 789, Millerton, NY 12546. Tickets to the dinner dance can be purchased by calling Gregory at 845-373-9757.