On Sunday April 15, at 1 p.m. the 15th Annual Community Dinner will begin. This event, celebrating Orange County’s cultural diversity through food and entertainment, will take place at the Mc Dougle Schools “cafetorium” on the Old Fayetteville Road in Carrboro.

Before the dinner people will have heard music by the Monday Jammers led by N.C. Botanical Garden director Peter White whose locally focused songs such as “Freight Train” will remind everyone that they are very much in Carrboro. Participants will also have also had the opportunity to visit with and learn about the many nonprofit organizations lining the entrance corridor to the event and may even had time to visit the Carrboro Branch Library next to the dinner’s ticket table.

The Community Dinner’s main meal will feature food cooked by Mama Dip’s Kitchen, The Carolina Inn, as well as desserts and entrees prepared by the Chapel Hill Kehillah, Hadassah, Margaret’s Cantina, Chapel Hill Restaurant Group (411, West, Squids, 518 West, Spanky’s and Mez,) Med Deli and many more cooks, restaurants, churches and organizations.

More than 600 people will sit down to eat together, many of them next to people who had been strangers until that moment. There will be dishes for vegetarians and diabetics and this year even more food will be “locally sourced.” Dinner hosts will include members of Chapel Hill and Carrboro City Schools Blue Ribbon Mentor Group who along with their parents, mentors and the Orange County Jammers will make people feel welcome and comfortable. In the wings will be Muriel Williman of Orange County’s Waste Management Department who will ensure that the event is 95 percent waste free.

As the food line begins to get shorter, the entertainment will begin. Performers will include the Youth and Family Orchestra, the Bouncing Bulldogs, Chapel Hill’s First Baptist Church’s Male Chorus and a salsa dance group.

Ron Stutts from WCHL and Marlyn Valeiko from Orange County’s Department of Housing, Human Rights and Human Relations will serve as masters of ceremonies.

Over the years the Community Dinner has grown to include more and more diverse groups. Its purpose is to celebrate our respective cultures and differences and to demonstrate our mutual respect for one another. The growth of mutual understanding fostered at the event has been particularly important over the years as we have tried to ensure that many members of our community continue to feel valued and connected despite losing their jobs, businesses, homes and incomes. The dinner could not proceed without the support of local businesses, organizations and restaurants who believe in the event’s importance for community building.

Integral to the success of the Dinner has been the dedication and support of its committee, its fiscal agents – first the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill and now the Orange County Department of Housing, Human Rights and Community Development, the Carrboro Branch Library, The Chapel Hill/ Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, The Chapel Hill News, The Carrboro Citizen,The Cultural Arts Group and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools – and of course Mildred “Mama Dip” Council and Mama Dip’s Kitchen who have cooked the main course for 14 dinners.

Advanced purchase of tickets is recommended. Tickets are on sale at many venues. The cost is $8 for adults, $3 for children aged 10 and under. For more information go to the website at http://communitydinner.org/ or call the Carrboro Branch Library at 969-3006. To volunteer, make a food pledge or to contribute a monetary donation contact me at rilevy@mindspring.com. And to avoid disappointment, buy your tickets early – every year the dinner sells out.