Ryan Murphy didn't know what to expect when he entered the Waysmeet Center last Friday. He'd heard about the free organic community dinners from several friends numerous times before, but never made it over to that white house across Mill Rd. on the side opposite C-Lot.
Murphy liked what he saw. "This dinner was one part of a glorious day."
Friday night, the members of the local community came together to prepare and enjoy a dinner, and each other's company.
The endeavor was spearheaded by individuals representing the UNH Organic Gardening Club, the Cornucopia Food Pantry and the United Campus Ministry to UNH, but included the efforts of many who had been to prior dinners and liked what they saw, and first timers whose curiosity had been piqued by word of mouth and posted flyers.
The place was packed. More than 100 people entered the Waysmeet Center to find a seat wherever they could; be it at one of the round tables in the main room, on one of the cushions on the rug next to the coffee table set with place settings, or in an armchair like one would expect to find at their grandparents' house with a TV-dinner stand in front of it.
The people came for more than just the food. Liz Joseph of the UNH Organic Gardening Club, who helps organize the events, sees these dinners as more than just dinners. With Wendell Berry's words in mind that "you cannot save the people apart from the land, or the land apart from the people, to save either you must save both," Joseph feels that "we are bound to each other and to the land, and the community dinners, as just one among many other great events on campus -- allow us to embrace that connection."
Members of the community, academic and local, were in attendance and embracing that connection. Peter Yarensky, who teaches for the psychology department here at UNH, made it out Friday, bringing a loaf of home-baked potato bread to share. He's come to prior dinners and returned yet again "to see all parts of the university and surrounding community come together to meet and have fun."
Yarensky's sentiments were shared by many. Graduate student Mary Rowley sees the dinners as a great way to relax after a week of school and other obligations. The dinners allow one to put aside thoughts of academics and "to take a moment to be conscious of the food you eat and people that surround you."
The Reverend Larry Brickner-Wood, chaplain and executive director of the United Campus Ministry, which is located at the Waysmeet Center, sees the dinners as a way to reach people who need more than just a meal. Recollecting a Buddhist mantra Brickner-Wood read earlier in the day Friday, "If the car goes fast, I go fast," reminded all in attendance to eat slowly in this fast-paced day and age and enjoy the company of those around.
The get-together progressed at a relaxed pace; after the opening words, all were treated to a surprise performance by the New Hampshire Gentlemen, an acapella group here on campus. All eyes were on them, except for those who couldn't fit in the main dining room who were lining the hallway, as they performed a few songs and serenaded Lauren Buyofsky, who recently celebrated her birthday.
Buyosky, Bill Erickson of the UNH Organic Gardening Club, and Brickner-Wood first met in the summer of 2005 to discuss how the UNH Organic Gardening Club could work with the Cornucopia food pantry. The Organic Gardening Club had previous experience serving food at the Crossroads Shelter in Portsmouth, and the idea of holding monthly community dinners in Durham grew out of that meeting.
Since then, the dinners have been held on roughly the second Friday of every month - this month it was held on the third Friday due to concerns that many wouldn't be able to attend because of Veteran's Day. However, the preparations started much earlier.
The seeds are sown - literally - in the Gardening Club's organic garden, which can be seen from 155A in the field near the Mast Road Lot and UNH's Smith Equine Center. It is here in the garden, equipped with a greenhouse and solar panel roof, that the plants are then tended to. Harvesting the food can pose unique challenges. Friday's harvest of the carrots was a bit daunting as the carrots were, owing to the recent precipitation, submerged in ankle deep mud.
Members then gather the food, which comes from various sources including the Cornucopia Food Pantry, donations from local vendors or volunteers, and the garden.
People contribute in a variety of ways - some, like Joseph and Lena Collins, spend their time spreading the word by posting flyers and allocating the equipment needed to host the dinner. Constituents of the St. Thomas More Church which supplied 35 folding chairs, pots, pans and serving bowls.
The cooking frenzy begins on Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. Just ask Zach "Chacho" Magdol, who currently resides at the Waysmeet Center. When the bulk of kitchen helpers start arriving, Magdol says he can "pick out the familiar voices and smell the garlic."
The kitchens fill with people dashing about to have the meal prepared on time: spices are passed around, bowls are searched for, conversation, laughter and singing ensue, and problems arise and are communally solved.
Elizabeth Scharf volunteered for her first time on Friday, making pumpkin cookies. She'd been to the dinners before but wanted to take a more active role this time.
All this behind-the-scenes preparation occurs whether or not the guests who show up 5:30 p.m. are aware of the intense effort that goes into the dinner.
Diners were offered vegetable chili with carrots, potatoes, winter squash, chives and turnips from the organic garden, cornbread, rice pudding and pumpkin cookies still warm from the oven.
Volunteers brought the food to the tables in huge serving bowls and trays of every shape and size, many of which were emptied moments later. The food met rave reviews from many diners. UNH undergraduate Alissa Feller was a particular fan of the chili. "Any sort of hearty goodness in a bowl turns me on," she said.
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