“It used to be a tradition of the old Lutheran church,” Full Gospel Mission congregation member Mayda Smith said of the election day chili feed held at 114 West Oak Street in Stanley this year.” So we just kind of carried that on,” she said. Prior to disbanding in 2019, the building now purchased and used by the Full Gospel Mission (itself formerly housed on Highway M north of Boyd), was used by Epiphany Lutheran Church, which chose to disband as a congregation last year, after organizing in 1895.

Smith, meanwhile, went on to say that the dinner was free and that whether people gave or not they could still receive a meal, while community donations went to the congregation’s children’s programming. Mayda’s husband Paul had more to share as well.

“We thought we’d spread it out this year because of COVID,” he said of the free meal offering running from 11 in the morning until 8 p.m. this year. Prior to COVID-19 the meal was held from 4 in the afternoon until 8 p.m. at night. Last year the congregation said 100 people had come through in the four hour period, while this year as of the three-hour mark they had 25 people instead. In addition to a bowl of chili, droppers- by could be treated to milk, water, or coffee, along with numerous plates of goodies to take home, wrapped individually in cellophane plastic, just the same as last year.

Also dropping by during our visit was the pastor of Full Gospel Mission Mike Larrabee, while other members were present in the basement as well.