Jim Lulves claims that his wife gets nervous any time he’s near a microphone. But the big guy was in rare form on Saturday afternoon. For a while, he was focusing on 1969.
“How many of you went to Woodstock?” he asked. “Who won the World Series that year? Who was the World Series MVP? Who were the three astronauts who went to the moon?”
The dinner guests may not have known the answers. But one thing is sure, they were all around in 1969. At a minimum, they were teenagers.
You can do the arithmetic. They were at least 13 that year, because they’re all senior citizens today. And as seniors, they’re automatically welcome at a lavish event hosted by the Knights of Columbus.
The annual Thanksgiving dinner is always held on the Saturday afternoon before the holiday. This year’s meal may have attracted the largest crowd ever. There were well over 200 guests enjoying a traditional repast of turkey, vegetables, wine, coffee and desserts. While they ate, they listened to the music of the Swing Shift, an 18-piece orchestra that plays songs from a different era.
The Senior Thanksgiving Dinner is unique. Not many communities have one. The Knights do most of the work, but local businesses and organizations subsidize the event by taking ads in a souvenir booklet that is 64 pages long.
Mr. Lulves asked the guests to take the booklets home and to remember the people who contributed to them.
Several knights contributed gift collections as prizes for a Tricky Tray. Guests could buy tickets and place them in a basket in front of the prize they hoped to win. A 50-50 raffle produced an award of more than $400 for the winner.
Town Supervisor Richard Randazzo greeted the guests and referred to the dinner as the official start of the holiday season. He asked the diners to remember our veterans and their families.
BY THE WAY: The Mets won the 1969 World Series. First baseman Don Clendennon was the Most Valuable Player. The astronauts on the moon shot were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
THE KNIGHTS have 110 members in Council 7460. Worldwide, the organization has 2 million members, who contribute $183 million to charity in an average year.
