MEALS WITH FRIENDS PROVING SUCCESSFUL

The meal line stretched almost halfway around the long, rectangular front room at the Salvation Army building Wednesday afternoon. They were serving barbecued pork and macaroni salad.

"We came here quite often last year," said Mary Gorham, who brought 4 of her 12 grandchildren to Wednesday's meal. "I didn't realize until yesterday that they were doing this again.

"It's a good thing, too," she said. "It's too hot to cook especially without air conditioning."

The Meals with Friends dinners are served the last full week of every month by the Salvation Army. The meals are provided at no cost and are open to the public.

"It doesn't matter who comes as far as income," said a volunteer registering the Salvation Army's dinner guests. "We have rich people come in here, we have poor people they all are equal here."

Ila Niswonger and Doretta Dunning stood behind the counter serving food.

"I came over here about three and a half years ago, and they put me to work; I've been here ever since," Niswonger said. "You get to meet a lot of really great people here."

Jackie Thiele supervised Wednesday's meal.

"This week has been really crazy," she said. "Usually we get about 100-150 people in here; last night we didn't have near that many and tonight we have far more."

Thiele said much of the food is purchased by the Salvation Army, but that they also make good use of food donations. The Salvation Army also purchases the plates, napkins and plastic forks and spoons.

People generally are welcome to as many helpings as they can eat. But on Wednesday, Thiele announced to the group that they were running low on the main dish, and asked that people not come back for seconds so that others can eat.

"We start cooking at about 1 p.m. unless we're making something that's rather involved, then we come in earlier," Thiele said. About 10 volunteers are used every night "If we have more come in, we can always put them to work," he said.

That was the case with Wayne Hale, who followed his wife Pat into the Salvation Army building Wednesday. He was put to work frying the hamburgers for the barbecue meal.

"Someone asked (Pat) to cook the hamburgers, but she had something else to do," he said. "She knows I like to fry hamburgers so she let me take over for her."

Pat Hale began volunteering at the Salvation Army about seven years ago.

"I went to church here," she said. "They asked me if I wanted to come up and do the meals and that's how I started volunteering.

"I loved the people who came in here to eat I still do," she continued. "They're really great people."

Betty McCain has been volunteering for a short while, but has fallen in love with the Salvation Army.

"I worked at Head Start for several years," she said. "I just like helping it's really a lot of fun."

Fannie M. Cannon sits at the head of the third table on the left side every night.

"I come here every night," she said. "I know all these people they're like family."

Clyde Vaughn, a janitor at a local taxi cab company, said he wouldn't miss the meals.

"It's great food," he said. "There's so many nice people here. When I get off work it's nice to come down and have dinner with friends."