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A tasty tradition will continue Saturday as Christ of King Catholic Church preps for its 23rd Annual Italian Dinner fundraiser.

The dinner offers a choice of homemade spaghetti and meatballs or lasagna. Proceeds and donations from the event benefit youth programs at the church, including mission trips and Vacation Bible School each summer.

There are some changes this year due to pandemic concerns as there will be no eat-in option. Instead, meals will be delivered by drive-through. Vehicles will enter the right-side parking lot of the church to place their orders and meals will be delivered on the left side.

“Usually we will have our hall decorated like an Italian restaurant, but we can’t do that this year. Instead we will have a drive-through line like Chick-fil-A with two lines to order on the right side and meals will be delivered on the left side. Nobody will need to get out of their cars. We will be following CDC guidelines,” said Kathy Frye, one of the event organizers.

The annual meal began in 1997 as a fundraiser to support the church’s youth take a trip to Rome, Italy. The trip came in 2001 and the dinner was not held the following year.

“Everyone in the community was asking about it wanting to know when we were going to do it again. We felt that people enjoyed it and we’ve been doing it ever since,” Frye said.

It takes about 20-25 volunteers from the church to hold the event, which includes those who produce the homemade meatballs, bread, salad dressing, and desserts. Typically, the church sells up to 450 dinners.

Along with the main course, dinners include a salad, Italian bread and a Pizzelle cookie. Adult plates are $10 and children’s plates are $5. In addition to the main course, a homemade Italian dessert sampler is offered for an additional $5.

While guests can order their dinners in the drive-through line, Frye said it would be helpful to purchase tickets ahead of Saturday. For tickets, call Frye at 488-5983 or Randy Kuhn at 488-5304.