Sandel hosts annual Mayor’s Luncheon

Local politicians literally served the people at the Sandel Senior Center on Jan. 17 at the annual Mayor’s Luncheon. Mayor Francis Murray and Deputy Mayor Nancy Howard delivered home-cooked meals to tables filled with smiling Sandel members, as village officials — including Fire Chief John Thorp and Safety, Health, Records and Grants Coordinator Francis Keating — scurried back and forth from the kitchens, clad in bright blue aprons and carrying trays of steaming food.

The tradition started many years back, according to Chris O’Leary, the village’s director of senior services. One day, former Mayor Donny Brown came home after an unusually successful fishing expedition, and headed to Sandel to cook up a fish dinner for the seniors. “Of course, we have grown in numbers [since then], and our Mayor no longer cooks the food himself,” said O’Leary. “But the camaraderie and good will is still very much in place.”