Memorial Day activities are over and it’s time to welcome summer with family, friends and neighbors.  As an alternative to shopping and cooking a meal, bring them to the old-fashioned church supper at 5:30, June 2 at the John Street United Methodist Church, 98 John Street, Camden.   Diners will find home-baked beans and a wide variety of hot casseroles, including macaroni and cheese, corn and clam casseroles, American chop suey, and a variety of chicken or beef dishes.  Salads range from fluffy orange or lemon jello to potato, coleslaw, spinach, oriental and garden varieties.  The grand finale of the meal is a slice of homemade pie: banana cream, chocolate, pecan, apple, cherry, blueberry and coconut or bread pudding, freshly prepared and ready for you to serve yourself family style.  Selections include Servers bring the food to the tables, and if a diner is looking for a particular dish, a server will scout other tables and deliver it to you.  

Many ” regulars” who come to the supper on the first Saturday of each month show up early to “beat the crowd” to seating.  If several folks want to sit together, one person may purchase tickets for the party and hold seats at the “reserved seating only table.” Those who arrive early also have the best selection of pie, which they pick up on their way to the table.  Serving starts at 5:30 after a “groaner” joke and a blessing.  Then the lively conversations continue among friends and strangers until they are ready to head out for whatever activity they have planned for the rest of the evening.