A supportive dinner

PLAINS - Friends, family, past coworkers and acquaintances of Frank Ceely gathered in the Plains VFW hall Saturday evening to show their support for Ceely and his wife Michelle who are in need of some support after an emergency operation.

Ceely, who in the beginning of April suffered from a bleed on his brain, has since recovered completely, but is stuck in a difficult position. He retired from the Plains Police Force in January of 2015 to work as a truck driver in the oil fields. After being laid off and not being eligible for health insurance, Ceely experienced a brain bleed in April which eventually led to an emergency operation in Kalispell and subsequent doctor’s appointments.

To alleviate the financial strain, Michelle and friends of the Ceely’s put on a spaghetti dinner and live auction which occurred Saturday evening.

The dinner commenced at 6:00pm, and large plates of spaghetti, salad and garlic bread were passed out from the kitchen. Helen Bertrand, who took orders at the kitchen window, gave attendees a choice of a large, medium or small plate. Enough food was cooked that even for the sizable number of people, there was more than enough for seconds to be called. On the side were also different kinds of desserts and coffee.

As Cori Vanderwall sat with her son, Conrad, and ate spaghetti, she explained why she came. “We’re friends with the Ceely’s and my son is friends with Shane and we just wanted to be able to support them because they are our friends.”

Doug Padden, who just recently moved back to Plains from living in Thompson Falls, who said he had never met the Ceely’s, said he came for, “Good food,” and that a lot of his family’s friends know Ceely. He also wanted to express that he and his wife came to help the community.

When it was evident that people were finishing their plates, the live auction began.

Together, father and son, Chris Borntreger Senior and Junior, conducted the auction, switching off calling the prices, while volunteers held up the bid items. Up for auction were pies, ammunition, a bike, baskets, desserts, artwork, antiques, jewelry, diningware, gardening equipment and much more. At the end of the auction, the large amount of left over pasta and sauce were even auctioned off.

One person who put down hundreds of dollars in the auction was Barbara Steward. She said, “My dad actually told me to do it. We like to donate back to the community to people who really need it and my father thought it was a good idea.” She then explained that the Ceely’s were good friends of her family and her father Jesse Steward and that it is why she put down so much.

As the hall was being cleaned and the money was being collected, Ceely expressed his gratitude and said, “It felt really good to see everybody and to have a good time.”