Spaghetti dinner held for pastor and family

THOMPSON FALLS - For anyone who was in the Thompson Falls Elementary School cafeteria Saturday during dinner time, it was a time to bear witness to the power of compassion and giving. The night was the culmination of hours of work over the course of weeks to bring hundreds together to give to a family in need.

In the cafeteria was a spaghetti dinner, live auction, and silent auction that drew a couple hundred people that filled the room usually reserved for hungry students. For five dollars a person or $15 for a family, people were treated to a tray of pasta, salad, a roll, and a small chocolate cake.

The word had been getting around recently by word of mouth and the media about the Erich Kaelberer, a husband, father of two and retired fire fighter and the pastor of the Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church was recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, (ALS), which in eventuality leads to death in a matter of a few years.

Kaelberer said, “I’m overwhelmed with the care and compassion and the willingness of the community to come help us and to help others.” He described how the number of people was a humbling experience and that it was overwhelming to have people he didn’t even know come in such large numbers to give his family support.

All the money collected from the auctions, raffles, and entrance fee to the spaghetti dinner went to a fund set up for the Kaelberer family. As Pastor Kaelberer’s health deteriates he will eventually lose his ability to work, which has already become evident. Tuesday, Kaelberer will be moving back to his hometown of Cody, Wyoming with his wife, son who is seven months old, and his daughter who just turned four. The expenses of the move, renting an apartment and everyday expenses will be hard for the family, but the money raised will help subsidize the Kaelberer family.

Once people had paid to enter, they were also given a chance to bid on baskets throughout the two hours the event took place and about halfway through the event, there was a live auction for 20 different items. At the door, for one dollar per ticket or five dollars for six tickets, people could also by tickets for either a donated quilt or a .44 magnum revolver.

For the past couple of Saturdays in Harvest Foods in Thompson Falls, there was also a booth set up where shoppers could buy the tickets to enter in the raffle for the two items.

Members of the Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church organized the event, and placed ads or fliers wherever they could to encourage people to come to the event or donate funds, baskets or other items for auction.

As the night the night drew on, the event took place from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, people continued to file through, it became evident people were there to help. Shirley Kinkaid, not even a member of Kaelberer’s congregation, said, “It’s fabulous, it’s great... We need a bigger place,” as she worked her way around throngs of people to go and put a bid on a basket. In an exclamatory way she then said, “That’s a small community for you,” as she looked out over the crowd of people, describing the support people give.

When the auctioning was over, all of the money had to be counted and the place had to be cleaned and people had to claim their baskets and prizes. Boys from the Woodcreek Academy, washed trays and collected trash. They were there the entire night donating their time to help.

Jenny Kaelberer said, “We feel so blessed. It’s amazing the support that we have been getting from the community and the congregation. It’s just very humbling.” She also explained that she was going to miss Montana and the people, which she called, “beautiful.”