Members of the Russellville Junior Grange will present an all-you-can-eat Italian dinner fundraiser on Saturday, March 22, from 4 p.m. until sold out at the Russellville Grange, 245 Old Limestone Road, Oxford.

The menu will include a choice of spaghetti, fettuccini or spaghetti squash served with Alfredo or marinara sauce. The meal will also include meatballs, a salad bar, garlic bread, a dessert and a beverage.

New this year will be sauteed mushrooms. "People can put the mushrooms on their pasta or eat the mushrooms by themselves," said Junior Grange co-leader Jessica Reyburn of Cochranville. "Two Grange members work for mushroom companies, so they they're getting them donated."

Attendees may eat at the Grange or purchase takeout.

The meal will be prepared by members of the Junior Grange and their families. The volunteers will arrive at the Grange building around lunchtime to start preparing the food.

"The Alfredo sauce is homemade," said Reyburn, noting that 125 meals were served last year. "We (offer) spaghetti squash to give (people) another option. It's for people with diabetes or (those who eat) gluten-free. We sold out of spaghetti squash last year."

All proceeds from the Italian dinner will help defray the costs of the Junior Grange's annual spring retreat as well as summer camp. "The spring retreat is for the Russellville kids. We go to a local camp for the weekend," Reyburn noted. "The state camp is held in July for kids all over Pennsylvania for a week at Camp Sylvan Hills in Howard." She added that in order to take part in the spring retreat, Junior Grange members are asked to volunteer at the Italian dinner.

In addition to raising money, Reyburn said the youths enjoy working alongside their parents at the dinner. "Children learn valuable lessons about event planning, food preparation, cost analysis and customer service while volunteering alongside their parents every step of the way," she said.

Like FFA and 4-H, Reyburn describes the Grange as a community service and social organization. "It is open to anyone interested in agriculture and interested in community service," Reyburn stated.

She noted that past community service projects have included serving meals at the Lighthouse Youth Center in Oxford, sponsoring a community Easter egg hunt, collecting nonperishable food items for local food banks and picking up trash on local roadways.

"We adopted a part of Route 10 in the past year that we will now clean up a few times per year," Reyburn noted.

Russellville Grange currently has 50 adult members and 13 junior members ages 5 to 14. Members come from the Cochranville, Parkesburg, Nottingham, Oxford and Lincoln University areas. Adult members pay a fee to participate, with dues going to the state and national Grange organizations.

The Grange accepts membership at any time. Adult meetings are held the first and third Thursdays of the month at 7:30 p.m. Junior Grange members meet on the second Friday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Prospective members are invited to attend a meeting and complete a membership application.

For the upcoming Italian dinner, separate fees have been set for children ages 5 to 14 and for adults, with discounts for tickets purchased in advance. The meal is free for children age 4 and under. To preorder meals, call 717-572-0010 or contact any Junior Grange family. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/RussellvilleGrange. More information about the Junior Grange organization is available at http://www.nationaljuniorgrange.org.