By Jessica Dillon
the first dinner was served. (Contributed)
Scott Norman is a well-known community leader and cook involved with the Harvest Youth Board, the W. Dan Prince III Thanksgiving Dinner and Richard’s Christmas Dinner, all of which take place annually. Norman encourages volunteer participation and says he is grateful to help people feel less alone during the holidays.
“Thirty-some years ago, one of my friends called and he was in a panic. He was cooking a Thanksgiving meal,” Norman said. He already had some connection to the meal through his church.
He said one thing led to another, and before long he fell in love with helping. “After many years of helping, one day on Christmas, after we delivered the food to the food site and started passing out the meals, he took the apron off and hung it around my neck and said, ‘It’s yours now. I’ve taught you all I can teach you and carry it on until you train somebody to take over.’”
“The very, very first year, the two gentlemen served about 50 people,” he said. “The next year, when I became involved, we were really excited because we served 82 or 83 people. Now at Christmas time we serve approximately 2,500 people.”
Years later, Norman said he was approached by youth about doing a Thanksgiving meal in Dan Prince’s honor. “We taught them how to do this meal. We taught them everything that we could. There’s a certain amount of things they cannot do because they’re not 18 years old. I, along with some other older people, handle that part for them, and they serve the masses.
“The young people who are carrying the torch forward with Dan Prince and the Thanksgiving dinner are preparing to serve 5,000 people this year,” Norman said of the youth board, which held its annual W. Dan Prince III Thanksgiving Eve Dinner on Wednesday.
The group prepared to serve more than 5,000 people with funding from the Harvest Foundation, Norman said. “We make sure it’s tasty and we teach the young people, first of all, how to serve. Second of all, how to prepare a meal. Third of all, we teach them about the joy of doing something nice for somebody else.”
Richard’s Dinner is the effort Norman has always been most closely associated with.
“I love to cook. I love to serve. I love bringing joy. I enjoy teaching other people and giving them the opportunity to do something fantastic,” he said. “I have two sisters that love to bake. Since the inception we have tried to provide homemade desserts. Every year my sisters bake and ice cupcakes. Their gifting is in baking, so they use it,” he said.
“My father knows every pig path in Henry County. He’s available to help people when even Google Maps can’t find the way. Many of the people that run the kitchen are accomplished restaurateurs, chefs, cooks. When we come down to the main event, I try to get out of the way and let everybody do what they do best,” he said.
Norman said he lives by advice passed down to him. “Somebody much smarter than me said, ‘Become the change you want to see in the world.’ So I’m the change. Do something selfless. Work within the skills that you have. Teach somebody, love on somebody, teach them how to do something, and teach them to be bigger than themselves.’”
“One of my protégés is my niece, and she’s been involved with the dinner since she was born,” he said. “The first year that she came, I carried her in my arms. And she’s learned to serve, and I’m very, very proud of her and the things that she has accomplished, along with dozens of other people. I have the same people that come year after year after year. I had a couple of people come by checking in, just making sure we’re going to be on tap for Wednesday morning.”
Norman invites other youth to come and cook, even if they start out inexperienced. “Even if they’re not good at it, that’s my problem,” he said. “My problem is to teach you how to do something and find something in your skill set that you can use to contribute to the effort and make the world a better place.”
He said the dinners began with two men who “had a dream that they were just going to make one day better.” They walked the streets looking for people who needed a meal.
“We had a day where nobody had to be alone. It’s not about food. Food’s everywhere. If you look around, you can get a food box. It’s about” ensuring that no one “should ever be alone on a holiday. So, we provide you some food. We provide you some companionship,” Norman said.
“We want to have conversations. Sometimes we have music. There’s usually a piano or a tape deck or something around where we can play some music. Sometimes we sing. You never know what we might do, but we share joy. We make sure that nobody is ever alone on a holiday,” Norman said. “I think Dan and Richard would both be excited about that.”
He invited the community to join in no matter their time constraints. “Be bold. Come out. Be bold. Show up. If you show up for five minutes, I’ll give you a five-minute job. If you show up for five hours, I’ll give you a five-hour job. Get involved and be a part of the solution. Find the things that we have in common and gravitate toward that. Make the world a little bit better place.”
