Hey hey!
It’s community lunch day!
It’s Thursday. Five long, grueling class periods have
passed, and lunchtime has finally rolled around. While most Marian students wait in the long line to buy lunch or sit
down and open their brown paper bag (or a variation of it) to eat, 10 seniors
gather in a specified area to prepare and eat their lunch together.
“Community lunch,” as this
gathering has been aptly named, has become a weekly tradition that those who participate
in it eagerly look forward to. It
started last year at a “Get in Shape, Girl!” retreat when then-juniors Gusia
Faryna, Amy Wolf, Erin Curran and Magann Venteicher were in a rush to get to
retreat after a sleepover and brought peanut butter, jelly and bread to share
instead of packing individual lunches.
The potluck lunch became a
tradition shortly thereafter and has expanded in the number of members and
variety of foods provided.
“We have themed days like
Mexican, salad and soup days, spaghetti and grilled cheese,” said senior
participant Liz Myers. The group has
expanded to 10 members, including Myers, Faryna, Wolf, Venteicher, Marisa
Headley, Cassie Kleinsmith, Johanna Hilbers, Beth Worthington and Kylie
McGonigal, all of whom are seniors.
Every week, the group
decides on a theme and then every member brings a different dish.
“On Kylie’s birthday we had
a fancy Italian-themed dinner with spaghetti, breadsticks, fake wine and a
tablecloth,” said Myers. “But my
favorite was still the time we brought the George Foreman grill and grilled
burgers.”
Although other groups of
students have potluck lunches, Community Lunch has become an organized weekly
tradition at Marian. The gathering has
even attracted some attention from other students.
The Community Lunch group
has concocted an initiation ceremony that new members must undergo before they
are allowed to participate in the lunch.
The new member has to stand up in front of everyone in the Quad and sing
the “Community Lunch Song,” an ode to Community Lunch written by Faryna.
Although Community Lunch is
sometimes a bit more expensive than a traditional school lunch, the members
feel it is definitely worth it.
“I’ve gotten to know some
people better because of it,” said Myers.
“I love Community Lunch!”