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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212;&#8220;Not yet, Mr. Impatient,&#8221; David Ryder, of Kingston, cautioned his 3-year-old son, Gabriel, as the little boy reached for a slice of cake.</p><p>Gabriel&#8217;s dessert would have to wait until after he&#8217;d eaten the main course during a Thursday afternoon Spaghetti Dinner at St. Mary&#8217;s Antiochian Church in Wilkes-Barre, where, actually, customers feast on much more than spaghetti.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all really good. You can&#8217;t go wrong,&#8221; Ryder said as his wife, Maria, placed orders for marinara sauce over penne, primavera white sauce over shells and primavera red sauce over angel hair.</p><p>Back in the kitchen, mid-way though the 2 1/2-hour dinner, volunteer Joanne Tenneriello was stirring three more pounds of angel hair into a huge pot of boiling water.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the most popular,&#8221; Tenneriello said, explaining 15 of the first 40 pounds of pasta the volunteers had cooked had all been that fine, delicate variety.</p><p>The church also has whole-wheat pasta at the weekly dinners along with penne, ziti and shells, a regular spaghetti sauce, meat sauce, white clam sauce and red and white sauces that can become primavera with the addition of some vegetables. Servers and cooks also offer salads, garlic or plain Italian bread, and desserts.</p><p>What they don&#8217;t offer is year-round dinners. They take a break during the hotter months, then resume in the fall.</p><p>&#8220;We miss it (in the summer),&#8221; said long-time regular customer Jean Hutz, of Bear Creek.</p><p>&#8220;At the end of the year we always say it&#8217;s &#8216;The Last Supper,&#8217;&#8221; said William Gurka, of Plains.</p><p>His wife, Mary Gurka, said she was delighted when the dinners resumed on Sept. 8.</p><p>&#8220;The food is excellent and all the people are very friendly,&#8221; she said.</p><p>How long have some of these customers been coming for pasta and fellowship?</p><p>&#8220;Since they opened the joint,&#8221; Steve Hutz, of Bear Creek, said, estimating it was 25 years ago.</p><p>Almost, said Anne Hester, wife of the church pastor. &#8220;The dinners started 23 years ago,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The dinner helps the church with its regular expenses, Hester added.</p><p>It&#8217;s a connection to the past, too, volunteer Bertie Molnar said as she sliced bread in the kitchen, remembering church workers of years ago. &#8220;A lot of people have passed away,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The dinners involve hours of prep work each week &#8212; and then there&#8217;s clean-up &#8212; but Mary Mamary, 88, who is one of the oldest volunteers, said she wouldn&#8217;t miss it.</p><p>&#8220;I have fun seeing people I know and new people,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The weekly dinners take place from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays and the advice from people in the know is: Arrive early.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Diners enjoy pasta and conversation on a recent Thursday at St. Mary&#8217;s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Wilkes-Barre, where the fall session of weekly church dinners resumed in early September. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL0902116spaghettidinner1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Diners enjoy pasta and conversation on a recent Thursday at St. Mary&#8217;s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Wilkes-Barre, where the fall session of weekly church dinners resumed in early September. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL0902116spaghettidinner2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Facing a long line of hot pots, Bill Shirk puts sauce on a take-out order in the kitchen at St. Mary&#8217;s Antiochian Orthodox Church. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL0902116spaghettidinner2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Facing a long line of hot pots, Bill Shirk puts sauce on a take-out order in the kitchen at St. Mary&#8217;s Antiochian Orthodox Church. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL0902116spaghettidinner3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Will it be meat sauce on whole-wheat? Clam sauce on shells? Jerry Taroli, left, and Bill Shirk are prepared for all sorts of mix-and-match possibilities as they pause between filling orders for customers at St. Mary&#8217;s weekly spaghetti dinners. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL0902116spaghettidinner3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Will it be meat sauce on whole-wheat? Clam sauce on shells? Jerry Taroli, left, and Bill Shirk are prepared for all sorts of mix-and-match possibilities as they pause between filling orders for customers at St. Mary&#8217;s weekly spaghetti dinners. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL0902116spaghettidinner4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bertie Molnar slices Italian bread and reminisces about her late brother-in-law, Jim Cardillo, a good cook whose recipes live on at the church sponsored dinners. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL0902116spaghettidinner4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Bertie Molnar slices Italian bread and reminisces about her late brother-in-law, Jim Cardillo, a good cook whose recipes live on at the church sponsored dinners. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>St. Mary&#8217;s continues to serve up many pastas and sauces</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>Weekly spaghetti dinner</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 4 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> St. Mary&#8217;s Antiochian Orthodox Church, 905 S. Main St., Wilkes Barre</p><p><strong>Cost:</strong> $8 per dinner includes choice of six different pastas and sauces, along with salad, garlic or Italian bread, dessert and beverage</p><p><strong>Reservations:</strong> for groups of 15 or more, call 570-824-5016</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Spaghetti dinners resume at St. Mary’s Antiochian Church in Wilkes-Barre