Toy drive moves into final days

By Murray Bishoff Special to the Monett Monthly

Preparations are underway for the annual Linn Thornton Memorial Christmas Day community dinner in Monett. 

Earnie Thornton, son of the late founder, plans to serve 800 people and have enough for 1,000. 

“I’ve been working all week,” Thornton said. “There’ll be plenty for everyone.” 

Thornton is repeating his father’s epic effort, originally designed for travelers, those unable to prepare a holiday feast for themselves, or those wanting an old-fashioned gathering around a meal. All are welcome to the free dinner, held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 1600 N. Central Ave. in Monett. 

Thornton is adjusting the volume of food this year as he had enough for 1,200 last year and donated leftovers to the Monett Community Kitchen. Nonetheless, he plans to have a full menu, that includes turkey, chicken donated by Tyson Foods, a wild pig donated by an area hunter, deer chili, vegetables and potato stuffing donated by Architectural Systems, and other foods brought from local kitchens. 

Close to half the meals go out as deliveries. Following the tradition set by his father, Thornton plans to have volunteers carry meals to shut-ins and those working on the holiday, including workers at the Monett and Aurora hospitals, staff at Monett convenience stores, and guards at Tyson Foods. He hopes firefighters and police officers on shift will drop by between calls. 

Bobby Crabb and Earnie’s son, Gary Thornton, will be running the kitchen. Earnie’s wife, Leta, is in charge of desserts. 

Volunteers are welcome, Thornton said. He will need both drivers and servers plus a cleanup crew. He urged volunteers to arrive around 10 a.m. at the church. He hopes to have most of the home and business deliveries done by the time doors open to the public at 11 a.m. 

Persons unable to come to the dinner are welcome to request a meal delivered by calling 417-489-2614 on Christmas morning. 

While the dinner has become an annual tradition since 1986, Linn Thornton started his holiday odyssey several years earlier, delivering toys to children who wouldn’t otherwise have a Christmas. The Thornton toy drive has become the biggest toy outreach to children in Monett, directed by staff at Architectural Systems Inc., Linn Thornton’s last employer. 

Earnie Thornton has been busy through the first two weeks of December distributing toys to 250 families, and expects to share with around 500 by the time they finish. Families needing help with Christmas can call Leta Thornton and request a visit to Santa’s workshop. 

“Toy donations are down a little this year,” Earnie Thornton said. “The price of toys is outrageous. We’ve had a lot of help, like the toy drive luncheon from the Monett Young Professionals Network. ASI gave us half a truckload. I’m expecting two or three large boxes from the Monett VFW. The Monett vo-tech school usually gives us a truckload. The school donated a recliner chair box full of toys. One lady spent a thousand dollars at Modern Variety to provide toys.” 

Final distribution will be done at the dinner. 

 Earnie Thornton encouraged people to come to the dinner and stay as long as they wanted for the food and the company.