Today, from 8-10 a.m., the Mount Tabor Ruritan Club will be serving up scratch-made biscuits topped with delicious sausage gravy, or with the latest batch of their “world-famous” apple butter.
For 53 years, the club has served the Mount Tabor and Blacksburg communities through parades, scholarships and gift giving.
The list of their community activities is lengthy, noble and diverse. They provide scholarships and contribute to Blacksburg’s July 4th parade & movie at The Lyric.
They provide monthly support of Interfaith Food Pantry and connect Hunters for the Hungry to the pantry. They help the Scouts, first responders and the NRV Beekeepers. They adopt highways.
Dedicated to fostering civic engagement, they purchase library books related to citizenship. They recognize veterans by maintaining the US flag at Slussers Chapel and its picnic shelter, and supporting SW Virginia Veteran’s Cemetery.
Today, Veterans’ Day weekend, veterans will breakfast as guests of the club.
The club helps kids by decorating a Christmas tree in Kent Square, donating Rudy Bears for children in traumatic situations.
They supply Christmas food certificates in the community. They recognize Teachers of the Year and help judge at regional Science Fairs, providing some prize money.
“There are more, but this is a good selection,” modest Ruritan club member and outreach coordinator, Gavin Faulkner, wrote in the announcement. “Our only fundraisers are fish fries, apple butter and breakfasts,“ he said. “We are always looking for new members to help us do all of this!”
The club meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at Slussers Chapel, on Mt. Tabor Road in Blacksburg.
“We eat a home-cooked meal (cooked by the church ladies’ group as their fundraiser),” Faulkner said. “This is followed by an invited speaker, and the business meeting.”
In December, they live it up. The meeting is a catered Christmas dinner when new club officers are installed.
Hot and good: eggs, biscuits, gravy, apple butter, juice, coffee and community, the club’s popular fundraising breakfasts are held throughout the winter and into spring.
This season’s dates are: Nov. 10, Jan. 12, Feb. 9, Mar. 9, and Apr. 13.
Breakfast is served on those Saturday mornings at the Slusser’s Chapel (1543 Mount Tabor Rd, Blacksburg) in the Fellowship Hall of below the sanctuary (on the lower church parking lot level).
“This is a fundraiser for our club to help us as we serve our community and donations will be accepted for the breakfast,” Faulkner wrote. “We will have our 2018 batch of apple butter for sale in quarts and pints,” he added.
