VINEMONT, Ala. – On Monday, Dec. 18, the senior residents of Vinemont gathered at the Vinemont Community Center for their monthly meal, hosted by the South Vinemont Town Council.
As guests joined the party, they were invited to snag one of the various handmade Christmas cards decorated and constructed with love and care by children of the community and Vinemont’s local Girl Scout Troop 10288. Adding extra holiday cheer to the shindig, children and toddlers made the trek across the street from Jolley’s Daycare to serenade the seniors with upbeat and adorably mispronounced Christmas carols, smiling and giggling at the room full of beaming adults.
The star event of the luncheon was the inaugural cookie contest; each entrant brought a plate of homemade cookies for a panel of five judges to try and rank in hopes of being the best cookie in the spread. Of the submitted cookies, a wide array of choices and varieties were represented. Peppermint shortbread, cream cheese sugar cookies, white chocolate macadamia nut, snickerdoodles, red velvet iced, pecan sandies, Hershey’s thumbprints, fruitcake cookies, traditional shaped sugar cookies, white chocolate dipped peanut butter and hazelnut cookies and three different takes on peanut butter cookies were all up for judgment. After each of the five judges had tasted and ranked each sweet, Nancy Roberson’s red velvet iced cookies were declared the most decadent cookie. Roberson walked away with bragging rights and a $25 Walmart gift card for her prize.
During a lull in the festivities, 92-year-old Pete Haynes led the audience in a lively round of Christmas songs such as “Joy to the World” while waiting for the feast to be served; as soon as the songs were sung and the prayer was uttered, the seniors made their way to the spread of three types of soups, breads, toppings, sandwiches, vegetables and dips to pile their plates and mingle with friends, warming bodies and hearts with a single meal.
“We’ve had about 40 people today,” said Vinemont Town Clerk Kayecea Sasser, who said she looks forward to the senior holiday meal each year. “I’m so glad we had so many come this year; this may be all that some of our seniors get this year.”
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