Salad fundraiser at Mqt. church

Dozens of hungry people gathered at a Marquette church for a much-needed taste of springtime.

First United Methodist Church hosted its annual Spring Salad Spree.

The luncheon has been held on the last Thursday of April every year since 1978.

The spree involves donations of not only salads, but also money and time.

“They donate their expertise for decorating the windows,” Salad Spree chairwoman Cheryl Wurster said. “We also have a cookbook on sale this year because one of our past things is, people have wanted the recipes from all of these salads.”

The decorations and some of the food had an Italian theme this year.

About 200 diners showed up to sample all of it, which was more than the church was expecting.

“We were quite surprised,” Wurster said. “We set for 160, which is about what we had last year because the nurses were in the other room, but we’re having to reset the tables, which is a nice problem.”

The proceeds from the Spring Salad Spree go to mission trips and other charitable projects like the Room at the Inn homeless shelter and the Harbor House domestic violence shelter.