LUCERNE — Organizer Ray Tate estimated that 400 people ate Christmas dinner at Castle Point Ministries in Lucerne, a mansion that sits atop a hill at the end of 13th Street and overlooks the town that knows it as “the castle.”
Lake County Gideon Ray Tate is a friend of the Castle Point Ministries Director Dan Pelletier and the 12 Northern California Baptist church pastors who sit as the ministry”s board of trustees and own the building. Tate organized the dinner to feed the hungry, homeless and lonely of Lake County.
“An awful lot of people came who, it was obvious by looking at them, they needed a hand,” Tate said.
Tate organized the event, bringing volunteers and businesses throughout the county together for the effort. A team of 30 to 40 volunteers helped prepare, serve and clean up the meal. Overall, Tate said the help that came was exactly what was needed. With the exception of almost 1,000 donated dinner rolls, he said the money donated to the cause exactly covered the cost of the groceries.
“Our first food delivery came to $2,073. An hour before it came and we had to write the check, we had just deposited $2,073,” Tate said.
Upper Lake resident Paul Kolb said he and his girlfriend came because neither of them felt like cooking.
“I”ve never been inside the building before, so I”m so glad they had it here,” Kolb said.
The largely vacant building has more than 100 rooms that have hosted church retreats and children”s camps since the building was purchased and donated to the ministry in 1966. Since then, the building has been essentially unavailable to the general public.
Each group of guests who came for dinner in the building”s grandiose halls was greeted with an opportunity to have their picture taken by the Christmas tree, then seated and served dinner, beverages and desert. Three main course choices were roast beef, turkey and ham.
In addition, donations of clothing, toys and other miscellaneous items waited in an adjoining room to be carried away by those who needed them. Tate estimated 90 percent of the donations were taken.
“One little boy had a bag that was bigger than he was,” Pelletier said.
The dinner was originally prepared for approximately 600 guests, and Tate said the leftovers went home with volunteers and others who needed food.
Sonoma resident Bill White said he and his wife made the four-and-a-half-hour drive to the castle to volunteer for the dinner because they were friends of Tate”s.
“I wish there would have been more people, but it”s a good start,” White said.
The ministry is closing its doors today because of financial difficulty. Tate said he is hoping to host the Christmas dinner at the castle again next year.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
