Church makes Easter an occasion to eat Grace Lutheran Church adds Easter to traditional holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas for serving free meals By Tina M. Gohr News-Chronicle The comforting aroma of thick-sliced baked ham, creamy scalloped potatoes, sweet carrots and traditional green bean casserole penetrated a downstairs room at Grace Lutheran Church, 321 S. Madison St., during its noon hour on Sunday. The church threw open its doors and invited the public for a free ham dinner on Easter Sunday. This is the church's third year celebrating the holiday with the community. "This is the biggest event of the Christian holidays," said coordinator Laurie Broeckel. "Churches put on free meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas and are taken care very well. Easter seems to be forgotten. We just want to make sure people are taken care of." Diners needed only to show up (no reservations required) between the hours of 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. to relish in the traditional ham dinner with ice cream for dessert. The staggered serving hours permitted people to come and go, allowing an expected 200 to be served in the small room with eight linen-topped round tables. An assortment of Easter lilies and decorations complemented the occasion. One of the youngest volunteers, John Gloeckler, 13, catered to the diners with their bountiful plates. "It's a good thing to do to help people," said the Lombardi Middle School student. "It's also a good way to complete my community-service project (for school)." In order to feed the expected 200 diners, the church prepared 120 pounds of ham and peeled 70 pounds of potatoes.