Seniors Enjoy Lunch and a Matinee at East Hampton High School on Sunday

 hosted a 175 seniors at a luncheon in conjunction with the student fall theatrical production, , on Sunday.  Each year, before both the fall play and spring musicals, senior citizens who live in East Hampton Town are invited to a luncheon prior to the matinee peformance.

Thirty-one students acted as the wait staff, according to Debbie Mansir, one of the high school staff who organized the luncheon, a 20 year tradition at the school. "It was originally done just in the spring for that show and it was such a hit that we expanded it to both productions," she said. 

The guests ate a traditional Thanksgiving meal: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, string beans, and cranberry sauce. They were also served a fruit cup, carrot cake, coffee, and tea. Whitson's, the high school kitchen, prepared the meal.

"Everyone gets a kick out of it and I think both the seniors and the students really appreciate the intergenerational aspect of the event.  Some seniors who come every year remember some of the kids and vice versa," Mansir noted. Plus, "Grandparents get to see their grandkids as well."

Maeve Battipaglia, who sat with four ladies during the lunch, remarked how beautiful the new high school cafeteria looked. Tables were decorated with bright linens and The Far East Fiddle Club provided the musical backdrop. Melanie Buttonow told a photographer, "The chamber music ads to the ambiance." The event was free.