Former Silver Creek Township supervisor Bill Martin said it was good to get out to lunch Thursday at the free senior citizen luncheon served by 60 students in two shifts in the Union High media center.

Otherwise, Martin, 89, said, he’d be home watching more political news recapping repercussions from Tuesday’s presidential election.

During his working life, Martin was employed by the Internal Revenue Service in Cincinnati.

Mike Frazier, retired Dowagiac Middle School principal, returned to visit with former teaching colleagues.

Supt. Mark Daniel and Deputy Supt. Dawn Conner dropped by.

Entertainment included Jeff Robinson’s DUHS choirs, which stretched across the entire end of the room three to four rows deep. They previewed their Dec. 6 holiday concert held the night before the Christmas parade downtown.

The menu included sausage-stuffed green peppers, Mandarin salad with homemade dressing, flax muffins substituted for homemade dinner rolls with butter, pumpkin roll — at a certain age it’s OK to eat dessert first while waiting for your entree — and water and coffee.

“It takes a month to get ready,” teacher Linda O’Keefe said. “We freeze what we can, like pumpkin rolls come out really moist. Flax muffins can be frozen. With our classes, we didn’t have enough time to let dinner rolls rise. We usually have 250 to 300. It takes 60 students to do the cooking, the preparation, door greeters, escorts. This is mainly my healthy lifestyles class that does this, but I only have one, so I pull other students from life skills class. It’s freshmen through seniors. They seem to get along, though some of the freshmen are intimidated.”

Rosie Ennesser participated for her fourth year — eight meals, considering it’s repeated in the spring.

“Waitresses get to interact with the people, but, right now, I’m helping bring food back and forth,” Ennesser said. “I enjoy it. She assigns what we do. I’ve also greeted people at the door.”