For one night only Children’s Home Society invites you to take a trip down memory lane and join them for the “Gwen Clingman Memorial Saturday Supper,” Jan. 25 at Lewisburg United Methodist Church from 5-7 p.m. Guests will have that “Clingman Experience” and be able to enjoy many of the same foods Gwen served out of her small kitchen in downtown Lewisburg for so many years, prepared just the way Gwen made them, including brown beans, cooked cabbage, carrots, Harvard beets, stewed tomatoes, ham and turkey, those wonderful hot rolls and much more. This event will help kick off the Society’s community capital campaign aimed at helping raise funds and awareness for the construction of a new facility for the local emergency shelter program for children.
Six days a week for four decades, Gwen Clingman fed thousands of people, hungry Osteopathic students, struggling artists, grieving families, even a Tibetan monk or two. While she had a wide range of talents, including teaching, playing the drums and being a marvelous dancer, Gwen’s greatest gift was her ability to quietly care for those who seemed to need it most. She loved to cook, a trait she may have inherited from her father who cooked in the lumber camps. Gwen not only filled people’s empty stomachs, but in her quiet and unassuming way, she also fed the souls of many from our community, across the country and even from around the world. And it is with that in mind that this event was conceived, as a way to not only honor Gwen’s accomplishments and memory, but also to remind us of her way of life, her desire to “pay it forward” so to speak, by sharing the milk of human kindness with those who are down on their luck or find themselves in a desperate situation through no fault of their own, such as the children who live in the emergency shelter. These children are from our community, surrounding counties and across the state, and are unable to live with their own families for multiple reasons, including abuse and neglect. The “Gwen Clingman Memorial Saturday Supper” will provide folks with the chance to take a page from Gwen’s book and be of service to others.
Tickets for the event are $12 and may be purchased directly from Children’s Home Society at 9575 Seneca Trail in Fairlea and will also be available at RE/MAX Vision Quest Realty at 111 East Washington Street in Lewisburg. Limited seating is available so purchase your tickets today. To go orders must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets or learn how you can be a sponsor for this amazing event, call 304-647-3430 or visit www.childhswv.org.