A crowd gathered at the River Falls Community Center over the weekend for good, down-home cooking, some gospel singing and a lot of fellowship. Sounds like most Sundays – only this was Saturday, and it wasn’t exactly a church service.

Instead of an offering plate and a sermon, those in attendance paid for a ticket and ate while they watched a documentary chronicling the long road African Americans have traveled from slavery to equality. The idea, organizer Mattie Freeney said, was to use the food to raise money for the community center, while using the center itself to remind residents of the struggle for equal rights, all during February’s Black History Month.

Dubbed “A Taste of Black History,” Saturday’s event filled the community center it will later pay to keep open and structurally sound. After a good dose of gospel music, the crowd filed through the buffet line and settled in for dinner and a movie of sorts.

While cutting ham on the buffet line, Albert Porter smiled as said the event marked 18 years of his work at the center. Freeney said Saturday’s event celebrates the freedom to hold such meetings, while supporting the community that benefits from them.