East Dundee's Immanuel Lutheran to host free to-go dinner for veterans Nov. 8

Immanuel Lutheran Church in East Dundee will be hosting its third annual Veterans Dinner on Sunday, Nov. 8.

In years past, they invited veterans from the community into the large church to enjoy a pasta meal catered by Aliano's in East Dundee.

Church members displayed their military memorabilia for the community to enjoy along with slide shows of their own pictures dating back to World War I.

Church and community members alike enjoyed good company and good food together.

This year, however, due to safety concerns during the pandemic the dinner has been changed to a drive-up event. It is still very much the desire of the church to foster good community relations and to thank local veterans for defending our freedom, but concessions had to be made in light of the pandemic.

The plan for the 2020 event will be to have veterans pull up to the church in their cars from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Church volunteers will bring out their hot lasagna dinners packaged and ready to be taken home. The veterans and/or their family members will not need to exit their vehicles.

"We would like the veterans to still be able to enjoy meals with their family and close friends, so we are encouraging them to order more than one," Alison Lyon said. "If they have a family of six, then we would love to give them six lasagna dinners."

Dinners will include lasagna, salad, bread and dessert. It will again be catered by Aliano's in East Dundee. This restaurant has been a part of our community since 2017 and the church is excited to be able to serve their delicious food yet again to local veterans. They provide a very generous discount so that the church can make this event available every year.

The free dinner will be offered at Immanuel Lutheran, 310 E. Main St.

Veterans are asked to please reserve their dinners ahead of time by calling Alison Lyon at (630) 709-6546 or by visiting immanuelveteransdinner2020.eventbrite.com.

Soft deadline for orders is Friday, Nov. 6, at 3 p.m.

"We are so grateful to our veterans for their service to our country and we hope they will take advantage of this small token of appreciation," Scott Lyon said.

Call Alison Lyon at (630) 709-6546 with questions or visit immanuelveteransdinner2020.eventbrite.com.