BAKER — Baker School students plan to treat area senior citizens to a Dec. 4 banquet, beginning at noon, that will include fellowship, food and music.
Baker High School Band and the school's chorus group will perform Christmas music. Students will then escort guests to the lunchroom for a Christmas meal prepared by the school's culinary students. Some 30 members of the Baker School SGA, leadership program and the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps also will participate in the event, escorting guests to the dining area and serving their meal.
Middle and high school students, along with elementary students, will help.
This week, Carol Hansford's and Janet Turner's kindergarten classes made place mats for the guests. The kids broke out their crayons to decorate the place mats with snowflakes, gingerbread men and reindeer. Andrea Brown's third-graders will make corsages.
The banquet is a tradition at Baker School.
"They have been doing at Baker for a very long time," said Jeannette Henderson, 81, a 1949 graduate who was a secretary there 1956 to 1988. "Its just wonderful to see the work the students put in to show that they care for the seniors in the community."
"The senior citizens enjoy it so much and we look forward to them coming every year," Hansford, who’s helped with the event for the past 25 years, said.
Senior citizens in the area should make reservations ahead of time, event organizers said, by calling the Baker School front office, 689-7279, during school hours, 7:40 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Denise Gronberg — who has sponsored the event, on behalf of the Baker School Student Government Association, which she oversees, for the past three years — said the event has grown in attendance each year.
"Every year it seems to get bigger and better," she said. "The luncheon is our way of showing our appreciation to the senior citizens in the area."
"From my second to third year (sponsoring the event), the number of people (attending) doubled from 25 to 50," Gronberg, a high school civics teacher, said.
"The students really put in a lot of passion into this event, every year," she said.
!——-HUB NOTE: PLEASE IGNORE BELOW
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker students preparing for Dec. 4 Senior Citizens Banquet