Winter months can feel long and boring, which is why a group of local citizens decided to bring back Community Pot Luck dinners in January, February and March. The first pot luck was held on Jan. 10 at the 4-H Building at the Mineral County Fair Grounds in Superior.

Around 45 people showed up to share a meal with their neighbors and to listen to a guest speaker, Alberton resident and author Elaine Brye.

Elaine and her husband, Courtney, bought Van and Jeanne Wolverton’s home, “Rubicon” located at Cyr, where they often host retreats for military families.

Brye wrote the book, “Be Safe, Love Mom: A Military Mom’s Stories of Courage, Comfort, and Surviving Life on the Home Front.” She also has a website, www.besafelovemom.com which offers blogs and connections with other military moms and resources for things like support organizations and volunteer opportunities.

It’s a topic she know well. Both Elaine and Courtney served in the Air Force and both of her parents were in the Army. The couple, along with their children lived on a farm in Ohio and all four of their children joined the military. Their son, Brendan is an Army helicopter pilot; Jordon is a Navy recon pilot; Katrina Moon is an aerospace engineer in the Air Force; and Eric is a Marine Corps fighter pilot.

Many of the potluck attendees have served in the military or have family members who have served. As they munched on homemade casseroles, desserts and other dishes, Elaine talked about her experiences with the military and about her book. Three of her children have been deployed to war zones, including the Middle East and Afghanistan, “nothing can prepare a mother to handle those deployment farewells,” she had said in a previous interview.

“When you know that they are going to a place where they can be harmed and you don’t know if they’re coming back there is a fear in that and there is a loss in that that’s indescribable,” she said.

Almost 2.7 million Americans have deployed since 9/11, which means millions of military mothers have had to see their children go into harm’s way.

Her advice to military moms is to “embrace the suck” which translates to “don’t waste time complaining about it, do what has to be done. If it is hard, too bad, just power through it. It’s what we need to do to support our kids.”

The next Community Potluck will be on February 10 at 6 p.m. with speaker, Josh Stroot, from the US Forest Service, who will talk about last summer’s fires and what the impact could be this spring with runoff and any other hazards.

The final potluck will be on March 10 with speaker Laurel Chambers from Mineral Community Hospital. She will talk about all the exciting and fun recreational possibilities coming up this summer. The programs offered might help people get in a little better shape and include hiking, biking, fishing, and hunting mushrooms.