Derrick Miller
DUNCAN — There’s many ways to dress up a baked potato. There’s butter and cheese and a whole slew of other options to choose from.
And Tuesday, members of the Duncan community will get to choose. The Duncan Toy Shop, which is an off shoot of Church Women United, will hold its annual spud lunch, which is one of its main fundraising efforts. This is the 12th year for the event.
The lunch will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center. Toy Shop members will be on hand to serve the potatoes.
Honor Vaughn with the Toy Shop said the spud lunch began small, but has become an annual success for the Toy Shop.
“We were just trying to think of a fundraiser that everyone would like,” Vaughn said. “We wanted to make it bigger and better than other fundraisers.
“We probably sold 3 to 400 tickets for the first one. It grows every year. We sold about 1,200 tickets last year. This year, we printed up 1,200 tickets. We’ve sold most of those.”
The money raised by the Toy Shop will go to help buy toys for children for Christmas and to help pay for operating expenses for the organization. Back in December, the Toy Shop served more than 1,200 children.
“We expect about the same if not more,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn said something else that contributed to the founding of the spud lunch was the need for operating funds. She said there was a need for shelving among other things.
“A lot of our funds came from donations,” Vaughn said. “We never felt we should spend the donations for those things.”
For the most part, things will be the same. For instance, Betty Davis with First United Methodist Church will cook the food, like she has in previous years. Homemade desserts will still be served. Take outs will be available.
There will be one difference, however.
The location will be changed. For many years, the event has taken place in First United Methodist Church, but this year the luncheon will be moved to the fairgrounds. Vaughn said the church is undergoing some renovations and the fairgrounds offered enough seating for the people to come.
She said people will be able to enter the south entrance of the Exhibition Building when they go to the fairgrounds to eat.
“We’ll have plenty of room to handle the crowd,” Vaughn said.
— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.
