Several long tables laid end to end, covered neatly with a red tablecloth catches the eye first upon entering the room. Set with a row of tealight candles directly down the center, the soft light adds to the tone of the room. The ambience continues with blue and yellow lighting and soft jazz playing in the background. A second long table counters the other, absolutely covered in dish upon dish of food.

A large group of actors trickles in and as if on cue begin with happy chatter: discussing where to sit, what to eat, and how the earlier part of the day went. As the meal goes on, members of the group propose toasts and brief snippets of songs stand out from the conversation.

With a different group of people and in another location, this gathering would be routine- between a large family, in a home. But this meal takes place between the drama club and its sponsors on the stage.

Dec. 8 during lunch, drama club sponsors and officers hosted their annual holiday lunch for any drama club member. As club president, senior Tamara Green helped to organize the lunch.

“The officers’ job is to just pick a date and make sure everything is set up,” Green said.

The club supplied the main course.

“Drama club provides the protein, usually a ham and fried chicken,” said drama club sponsor and head fine arts director Lance Morse.

Members may sign up in advance to provide any drink, dessert, side dish, or eating utensil they wish to complete the meal.

“I brought my awesome homemade chocolate candy,” junior Destiny Aragon said.

Besides providing enough space to contain the large club, the stage fits the situation in another way.

“I spend so much time in the theatre and onstage that it’s just as good as home,” Aragon said.

Several years ago, the club’s holiday lunch came into existence with a purpose.

“Back in the day, we used to have a lot of students who didn’t have family, or had lost their parents,” Morse said.

Club officers decided to give their fellow students in need a chance for a family meal.

“The officers wanted at least one holiday meal for them, and it’s stuck ever since,” Morse said.

The lunch also presents members with a chance to get back together with the cast of performances past.

“I get to reconnect with my friends. They’re just like my family,” Aragon said.

New members also enjoy the familial feel of the lunch.

“I didn’t know any of these people before, but now I talk to them and they’re my friends,” said new member freshman Britni Gillespie.

Green also feels the bond of the club.

“It keeps people together like nothing else,” she said.

Though not an actual family, the togetherness of the drama club offers an example of coming together in the holiday season.

“I love it,” Morse said. “I love the fact that we all get together to enjoy the season. I love that it is a lunch, but it isn’t just a lunch to us.”