Corsicana —
The laughs were plenty, the food delicious and evening for a good cause, as La Pradera Mexican Restaurant hosted the annual Celebrity Waiter’s event — a fund-raiser for the Corsicana State Home Resource Council.
Community volunteers and local government officials donned waiter aprons and order pads, working for tips to be donated to the State Home and a special fund used for gifts and special programs for the youth in the state-fun facility. Among those taking orders and serving tea and chips were Police Chief Randy Bratton, County Judge H.M. Davenport Jr., County Commissioners David Martin, Butch Warren, James Olsen and Jason Grant, District Clerk Josh Tackett, Tax Assessor/Collector Russell Hudson, and even Pastor Rick Lamb from Northside Baptist Church and Father Ed Monk from St. John’s Episcopal Church, just to name a few.
Through lunch and dinner hours Tuesday, guests were treated by the special servers, largely without incident, according to the servers themselves.
“I almost spilled some drinks of some folks last year,” said Tackett. “My shirt’s still fairly clean and I hope to keep it that way.”
While some folks came in for specific servers, others were served by those assigned to a specific section, assisted by the regular crew at La Pradera.
“We’ve been so appreciative of people fighting all this construction out here on Seventh Avenue,” said Gary Colburn, one of the organizers of the annual State Home event. “Our volunteer program has had so much state funding taken away lately we’re having to make up locally, and we really appreciate everyone coming out.”
Colburn’s son Steve was also a volunteer for the evening, providing dinner music with his guitar and singing.
Asked what he enjoyed most about working as a celebrity server, Davenport said “Well, getting the orders right ... it is fun to get ‘em right, and you see the smile on people’s faces when the actually get what they ask for.”
New Pct. 1 County Commissioner Jason Grant has worked the event before, and said he enjoyed being with the people.
“It’s fun ... just meeting the people and talking with people,” he said. “I’ve messed up an order but so far I haven’t spilled anything.”
The money raised through tips earned by the celebrity waiters goes to pay for birthday cakes and Christmas gifts for the students and larger projects, such as repairing the swimming pool at the facility. Some money also goes towards helping defray travel costs for parents who can’t otherwise afford to come visit their sons.
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Bob Belcher may be reached by email at bbelcher@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “Soundoff” on this story? Email: soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com
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Related Photos
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Daily Sun photo/Bob Belcher Father Ed Monk, left, serves dinner to Dr. Shawkat Shafik, seated at right, at the Celebrity Waiter event at La Pradera Tuesday night. Tips raised by the celebrity waiters go to benefit the Community Resource Council at the Corsicana Residential Treatment Center, also known as the Corsicana State Home.
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Daily Sun photo/Bob Belcher Pastor Rick Lamb, at right, of Northside Baptist Church, takes a dinner order from some of his church members Tuesday at La Pradera Mexican Restaurant during the Celebrity Waiter event to benefit the Community Resource Council of the Corsicana State Home.
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Daily Sun photo/Bob Belcher Community volunteers Ray Jacobs, left, and Gene Bullard, right, take a break while serving as 'celebrity waiters' Tuesday at La Pradera Restaurant in Corsicana. The event is a fund-raiser for the Community Resource Council at the Corsicana State Home.
Discussion
Celebrity waiters help raise funds for State Home outreach
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