On the heels of the Memorial Day Weekend, a Special Table of Plenty in remembrance of its Founding Father, Randolph “Rooster” Meador will be held Wednesday, June 2, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in downtown Hinton,” said Larry Hylton, a founding member of the Table of Plenty and its sponsors, the Knights of Columbus Roundtable and the Friars Club, the men of St. Patrick.
In 2016, as the men of St. Patrick discussed possible community projects, it was Rooster who kept reminding us that there are folks in the greater Hinton community who simply did not have enough to eat, he especially was adamant about the children,” said Hylton. “It was Rooster’s unwavering insistence that something had to be done to help alleviate this that gave birth to the Table of Plenty in the fall of that year.
Since then, the Table of Plenty grew from maybe 30 or 40 meals at each dinner to more than a hundred, with more than double that number of meals being served each Table to accommodate those who couldn’t make it to the dinners or to whom those who could would bring meals home to them,” Hylton continued. “In the process,” he said, “we have become a family.
Unfortunately, two events conspired to bring the Table of Plenty to a halt this past year, the pandemic and the loss of our main source of funding,” Hylton explained. “However, through the generous support of our fellow parishioners, the Hinton Area Foundation, and the Knights Columbus Council in Beckley, we have been able to have Special Tables of Plenty around particular holidays and Holy Days, such as Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter and the Fourth of July, and now Memorial Day with this special remembrance of Rooster.”
According to Hylton, the menu for June 2 is one of Rooster’s favorites: Hotdogs and chili. Because of continued restrictions due to the virus, dinners will be take-out only, available outside St. Patrick Church Hall at the corner of 2 nd Ave. and Temple St. from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 2.
The Table of Plenty at St. Patrick Catholic Church started in the fall of 2016,” said Father Romeo Bacalso Administrator of St. Patrick. “Over the ensuing almost five years, the Table of Plenty has provided literally thousands of meals to the greater Hinton community, at no charge,” he said. “We indeed have been blessed in this effort and are most grateful for the volunteers whose hard work and dedication, and the generosity of our supporters, that together made this possible. With that continued support, we look forward to continuing the new program of providing special meals at special and festive occasions.”
The Table of Plenty is held at the St. Patrick Parish Hall at Temple St. and 2nd Avenue in downtown Hinton. Everyone is welcome and there is no charge. To help support this community project of the Knights of Columbus and the St. Patrick Friars Club, contributions can be sent to The Friars Club c/o St. Patrick Catholic Church, 309 Second Ave, Hinton WV 25951.
