Next generation stepping up to keep St. George Lebanese dinner going ‘another 89 years’
The St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral is serving its 89th Lebanese dinner this weekend — and that’s a long time to keep a fundraising event going.
That fact is not lost on the generation of volunteers in their 40s and 50s who have realized it’s time for them to start carrying the tradition forward and learning its ins and outs from still-working volunteers in their 70s, 80s — even 90s.
This year, says Alexis Phillips — first-time co-chair of the event — the Gen-X and older millennial members of the congregation are stepping up in a big way. Paired with veteran mentors, some of whom have been putting together the dinner for decades, they’re taking over key positions as the heads of the cabbage, kibba and baklawa committees.
“This year, more than maybe others, we’ve tried to really put people in place to be trained to put it on and continue it,” said Phillips, a third-generation chair whose grandmother — the late Lorise Cohlmia — led the dinner off and on from the late 50s through the 1980s, and whose mother, the late Mickey Cohlmia, led many committees through the years.
The dinner, the church’s biggest annual fundraiser, will run from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday at the church, 7515 E. 13th St. It invites people to purchase prepared meals that include salad, pita bread, cabbage rolls, kibba, ruz and yuknee — which is a Lebanese stew with beef, green beans and tomatoes that’s served over rice — and baklawa for dessert. Customers can either pick their food up at a well-oiled drive through setup or dine inside.
Meals cost $22 for adults, $15 for children 10 and under, and the event also includes a popular Country Kitchen offering extra portions of things like kibba, cabbage rolls and baklawa as well as salad dressing and pita bread. Church tours also will be offered.
Church members have been preparing this year’s food since the start of August and have made 19,000 cabbage rolls, rendered 1,656 pounds of butter, and turned 2,650 pounds of meat into dishes including Lebanese kibba.
Phillips, who is co-chairing the event this year with Kristi Taylor, said that her new position has made her nostalgic, and she’s been digging through the notebooks her grandmother, who died in 2006, kept about the dinner.
It’s filled with old newspaper clippings and her grandmother’s notes, including the fact that, in 1968, volunteers bought 50 pounds of kibba meat for $220. The meat order this year was for 1,500 pounds and cost significantly more than $220.
The volunteers who are making an effort to take the reins of the dinner are also trying to involve their own younger children more, giving them jobs like buttering pans and rolling cabbage leaves.
“Our focus this year is sustainability, passing it on to the next generation so it can last another 89 years,” Phillips said.
And the senior ranks of volunteers are welcoming the infusion of younger leaders, she said. Her personal dinner mentor called this year a blessing.
“They are so thankful to see us take this on.”
89th St. George Lebanese Dinner
When: 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday (dine-in closes at 7 p.m.); noon to 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: St. George Orthodox Christian Church, 7515 E. 13th St.
Tickets: $22 for adults, $15 for children 10, available on site
This story was originally published October 9, 2024 at 2:06 PM.
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