Grove church putting on turkey dinner on Oct. 26, first since Covid

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Bill Dunn and Kathie McMoil are longtime members of the Grove United Methodist Church, where they work together on fundraising dinners for the church. Dunn is the chief cook in the kitchen, while McMoil oversees the dining room. They will be heading up the church’s first turkey dinner since before Covid on Oct. 26.

MEDINA – Turkey dinners were a major fundraiser for the former Medina United Methodist Church, now the Grove United Methodist Church, until Covid hit in March 2022. And every meal for several decades always found Bill Dunn in the kitchen and Kathie McMoil taking care of business in the dining room as events coordinator.

The church is resuming its turkey dinner on Oct. 26, and Dunn and McMoil are already busy making plans.

Dunn got interested in cooking while in college in Kentucky and he worked at several restaurants there, including one at Churchill Downs, to pay his way through college.

When he returned to Medina intending to teach, he found he needed several more credits, and not wanting to go back to college, he went to work at Kodak. That lasted about a year and a half and he decided it wasn’t for him.

“I was in the dark room and I never knew if it was day or night,” Dunn said. “I liked to cook got a job at a restaurant in Clarence, and I also worked at the Basket Factory in Middleport.”

Then his parents told him there was an opening at the Apple Grove Inn, and he applied. He would work as an assistant chef for four owners of the Apple Grove Inn, including Walt Hilger.

When he started attending the Methodist Church, he stepped right in to cook for their dinners, which are major fundraisers for the church. Proceeds of this year’s dinner will help to pay off their debt, particularly the mortgage on the church, McMoil said.

The church had drive-through pulled pork and brisket dinners during the summer, but the turkey dinner will be the first to include sit-down dining since before Covid. The date is five years to the day since the last one. A spaghetti dinner is in the works for November.

Dunn and McMoil are thankful for the support they get from church members and the community. The congregation donated half the bread for the turkey dressing, while another 30 loaves of bread and 27 dozen dinner rolls was donated by Tim Oswald and Son, a neighbor who works for a bread distributing company.

The turkey dinner will be available for takeout from 3:30 to 7 p.m., while dine-in will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children under 12. They can be purchased at the church office from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Thursday or by calling (585) 798-2142.