A pair of Saturday events – both designed to benefit local youths – are on the schedule in Escalon and each has additional tickets available.

Whether you want to support the Escalon High School Sober Grad or the Escalon Kiwanis Club, there’s still time to secure your spot for the Saturday, Jan. 21 festivities.

“We have about 160 sold, we have another 60 we can sell,” co-organizer Debbie Leal said of tickets for the ‘Curbside To Go’ tri-tip dinner being sold by the Sober Grad committee. Tickets are $45 each and the complete dinner for four features a whole barbecued tri-tip, four baked potatoes, a bag of salad, a loaf of French bread and a two-liter bottle of soda. Proceeds help the committee put on the all-night party for the graduating class at EHS each year.

The meal is served up at El Portal Middle School. Motorists pull in to the driveway in front of the school on First Street, present their ticket and their meal is delivered to their car. Several Escalon High School seniors have signed on to work at the event as well, qualifying for a reduction in their ticket price to attend the Sober Grad event on graduation night in June.

“As of right now, nine seniors are ready to work, they get $5 off their ticket for working,” Leal said. “Also, for every five dinner tickets their parents sold, they get another $5 off so we have some kids that are looking at $15 off their ticket.”

If you are interested in getting the drive through tri-tip dinner, contact Leal at 209-639-2513 or Tammy Alcantor at 209-480-3728 to get tickets.

“We’re still looking for brand name sodas, I need about another 60 two-liter bottles,” Leal added of last minute items being sought for the dinner. “On Saturday, we will be there (at El Portal) setting up about 9:30 a.m., we start barbecuing at 10:30 a.m.”

Volunteers are getting the meals together and students typically handle the delivery to the vehicles, curbside at the school.

“Meals will be ready to pick up at 4:30 p.m. and we will hand them out through 6:30 p.m.,” Leal said.

Some people have, in the past, attended the Kiwanis Club event while taking the tri-tip dinner home for the sitter and the kids, or purchased the tri-tip meal and used that for Sunday dinner, organizers said.

The Kiwanis Club, meanwhile, will offer up its annual Crab Feed, staged at the Escalon Community Center on Escalon Avenue.

“I have about 10 tickets left,” said organizer Pam Dyer.

She can be reached at 209-401-8496 to purchase tickets, available on a first come, first serves basis. The Crab Feed starts with no host cocktails at 6 p.m. with dinner served at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $50 per person and the evening also includes live and silent auctions, door prizes, a 50/50 drawing and a pie auction.

“Seafood Express in Stockton is putting it on, they have done it for the last five years for us and they do a really good job,” Dyer said of the food preparation.

As with the Sober Grad event, high school students assist at the Crab Feed, members of the Key Club, the youth organization of Kiwanis, help with decorating and serving.

This year marks the 13th annual Crab Feed put on by the Kiwanis Club and proceeds benefit Escalon High School scholarships and a variety of youth programs in the community.