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Steady Stream Of Customers At Stormy Drive-Thru Event
DELIVERY pix
Nuts for Life team members were bundled up against the wet weather on Saturday afternoon, working the drive thru line at Saron Lutheran Church in the annual tri tip fundraiser hosted as part of the Relay For Life effort. Marg Jackson/The Times

Team Nuts for Life hosted its annual tri-tip drive-thru dinner on Saturday, March 3 and despite the rainy weather, the flow of customers was steady for the event. Funds raised benefit the team, which is participating in the Relay For Life, scheduled for May 5 and 6 in Oakdale. This year, several communities have combined to form one larger event, with teams cooperating in an Oakdale-Escalon-Riverbank-Waterford Relay.

“We sold 175 dinners,” said Nuts for Life team co-captain Suzanne Longstreth, noting that the total was higher than last year. “We upped it and we were still getting calls today.”

Last year, the team sold 160 dinners and Longstreth said they have sold out every year.

The traditional dinner for four served up in the drive-thru included a whole barbecued tri-tip, four baked potatoes, a bag of salad, a loaf of French bread and a two-liter bottle of soda. Staged at the Saron Lutheran Church, diners drove in to the parking lot and had the prepared meal delivered to their car, not having to get out in the rainy weather.

Longstreth said several team members and volunteers from Saron Lutheran helped get the dinners organized and a crew barbecued the majority of the tri-tips on Saturday afternoon, just before packaging them for the ‘to-go’ orders. Andy Dugo served as head griller. A few people also requested the tri-tips be provided uncooked, so they could prepare them at home.

Special thanks was given by the team to Saron Lutheran Church, Mar-Val Main Street Market, Cost Less Foods in Oakdale, Pre-Peeled Products, Inc., Raley’s in Oakdale, Escalon Sportsman’s Club and they also thanked those who purchased dinners to help support the Relay For Life effort.

Longstreth said the drive-thru, which ran from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, was busy from the start, with the bulk of the 175 orders filled between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Nuts for Life is one of the Escalon-based teams that will be participating in the May 5 and 6 Relay, to be staged on the soccer fields at Oakdale High School. All in the community are welcome to attend the Relay festivities to support the effort and help in the fight against cancer. Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event.