Stone Soup
Joshua Smith
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There’s an old story about a stranger who rolls into a small town in the midst of a famine with little more than the clothes on his back and large a black kettle. He arrives in the village square, suspiciously eyed by the hungry locals who at first refuse him the hospitality of a meal and a place to stay. With no place left to go, the weary traveler pulls the cauldron from his cart, fills it with water, builds a fire beneath it, and drops a single stone into the pot. Curious locals begin to ask what the man is doing, and he tells them he is making “Stone Soup,” the most delicious soup in the world, and that he will gladly share some with them if they might part with a few carrots. One of the villagers brings a bowl of carrots, and soon another offers some potatoes. The town butcher throws some meat into the pot, and before long an enormous kettle of stew is boiling, and the entire town shows up to share in the feast.
This story of the value of sharing may sound far-fetched, but it’s exactly what happens every first weekend of December in the tiny town of Williamsville, Missouri.
Roger Connelly is a long-time member of the Williamsville Area Progress Committee (WAPC), the organization that hosts the annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Stew Dinner, and has cooked a community stew for the event for 9 of the last 10 years it has been held. According to Connelly, the WAPC was formed nearly a decade ago in an attempt to improve Williamsville and the lives of its residents. One of the first ideas that came to light was a festive seasonal way to feed the town and encourage cooperation within the community.
“It’s just the novelty of it,” Roger says of the yearly event. “It’s all cooked over an open fire in a big kettle. It’s just the one time of year that we come together as a community, and we even have people visit from outside the community.”
Each year, a fire is started at 5:30 AM the day of the event. A 35-gallon kettle is assembled, and dozens of locals begin to show up with potatoes, carrots, celery, and other ingredients that make up a good stew. The kettle boils all day as people come and go, visiting and chatting before the night’s big event: the lighting of the town Christmas tree.
By early evening, the restless crowd shivers and stomps with cold and anticipation, gathered around two large bonfires, waiting for the stew to finish and for the guest of honor to arrive in a particularly unique fashion. The murmur in the town square grows as a fire truck approaches, lights flashing, with a jolly man in a red suit waving from the back bumper.
The crowd cheers as Santa steps off the truck and takes his place in a large gingerbread hut near the towering cedar chosen for this year’s Christmas tree. An enormous flock of children lines up to receive presents from Old St. Nick, while others linger nearby at a giant mailbox, writing letters to Santa. As it gets darker, the town begins to count down, and the tree, covered in ornaments and candy canes, is lit, illuminating the square in a brilliant kaleidoscope of Christmas colors. Another line immediately begins to form near the stew kettle. Dinner is almost ready.
Williamsville United Methodist Church Pastor Jerry Mattson has been attending the event since he first came to Williamsville four years ago. Mattson says that the beauty of the annual celebration lies in the hearts of the members of the community that help organize it.
“This group has open, caring hearts,” Mattson says, recounting a recent food drive benefit for the local pantry. “Whenever there’s any kind of a need, the community just sort of rallies around it. More than the event shaping the community, the community really shapes this event.”
If this all appears too much like a scene from the Christmas cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas, it’s because it is. Like the Whos in Dr. Seuss’s classic tale, the town gathers each year to celebrate the spirit of togetherness.
“We do this and pull it togetherᾰthe WAPC was formed to give back to the community, and that’s what we do it for,” says Ruby Prewitt, a founding member of the WAPC who has been instrumental in organizing the tree lighting every year it’s been held. Prewitt, who played the part of Mrs. Claus this year, was in charge of purchasing the toys given out to the children, about 125 in all. By holding this event each year, Prewitt hopes to instill the values of giving and kinship among the youngest generation of locals.
And here’s the thing about giving back to the community: it’s infectious.
Roger Connelly jokes, “It just keeps on going. We don’t know how to stop it.”