Residents from every corner of Moorhead and Dilworth first came together for the first Longest Table in 2019. It’s scheduled again on Sept. 14 outside Salem Church in south Moorhead.
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
The best way to get to know each other? Some say it’s breaking bread together.
Residents of Moorhead and Dilworth will once again have that chance to meet one another over dinner on Thursday, Sept. 14, when the communities once again host the Longest Table.
Organizers aren’t kidding about that table. The centerpiece of the get-together may be the seating arrangement itself – 25 eight-foot tables placed end to end across the east end of Salem Evangelical Church’s capacious parking lot. With eight chairs lining the length of each of them, organizers are hoping for at least 200 diners to join them for an event expressly designed to make new friends and connect with one another – reaching across differences of age, ethnicity, religion and economic status to forge links and deepen understanding among members of the two Clay County communities.
The cities of Moorhead and Dilworth inaugurated their first Longest Table event on a sunny evening in 2019. Hundreds of men and women sat down along a lengthy line of tables in the parking lot of the Dilworth Community Center, eating a meal prepared by the Dilworth Lions Club as they talked about themselves and what mattered most in the towns where they lived.
“We were going to do it again in 2020 at Trinity Lutheran Church,” says Jody Jordet, who chairs the group of volunteers planning next month’s event. “But then COVID-19 shut everything down. We haven’t felt comfortable having a large community gathering again until now.”
A committee of volunteers has been meeting to plan the dinner, which will be open to anyone and everyone in the two communities. In addition to Jody, who coordinates the local early Childhood Initiative program, it includes Mari Anne Smith of the Lakes and Prairies Community Action Program, Nicole Flick of ABC-123 Child Care, Jenna Kahly, Moorhead city councilwoman Heather Nesemeier, and Rev. Tom Smithson of Salem Church, which is hosting this year’s dinner in its churchyard.
The mission of the Longest Table is to bring people together to talk about their communities. “We want to bring people together to talk about what’s good and what’s hard, what brought them here and why they live on the Minnesota side of the river,” Jody explains. “What kinds of support have been helpful? What makes them feel welcome here?”
Table hosts will help spark the conversation as those seated there get to know one another. Diners are strongly encouraged to sit among people they don’t already know, a goal made more likely by the extended seating arrangements.
Support for the meal – which will again be prepared by members of the Dilworth Lions Club – comes from the West Central Initiative, which sponsors ECI, and from business and individual donations. There will be no charge for the meal.
So what’s for dinner? The planning committee intends to make it both tasty and inclusive for all, despite different dietary inclinations. Instead of pork and beef, decried by members of several religions, the main protein will be pulled chicken. A variety of options will be available for those who prefer vegan foods or are sensitive to gluten, dairy and other allergens.
This year’s location was chosen because of its accessibility. Plenty of parking is available, along with public transportation; two bus stops are nearby. The church sits within easy walking distance of an area of high-density mixed ethnic housing. The location is one of convenience, rather than meant to emphasize religion. “Churches have big parking lots and kitchens,” Jody points out. Plans call for alternating future events between the two cities.
The first documented Longest Table event took place in Tallahassee, Florida, in 2015, when 400 community members dined at a two-block-long table. Envisioned as a way to bring people together and bridge their differences with civil conversation, the dinners have spread to cities across the country. Grand Forks hosted the region’s first Longest Table in 2018.
Several changes mark this year’s Moorhead-Dilworth event, according to Jody. One is that children will be welcome, a step intended to enable parents of younger families to participate. Kids from 2 through 10 will take part in activities in a separate, supervised area.
Another change has been made after several of the original attendees mentioned their discomfort with assigned seating. At the first event, couples and families were split up, with assigned seating intended to insure they’d sit among new acquaintances. That has been eased, Jody says: “The way the tables are arranged almost guarantees you will meet new people, even if you sit beside someone you know.”
Dining at the Longest Table is free, but participants are encouraged to register to aid in arranging seating and food. For more information and to obtain free tickets, go to the “Longest Table Dilworth Moorhead” page on Facebook.
