The annual St. Patrick’s Day dinner at St. Mary Catholic Church in Aspen is a favorite community event. Be ready to stand in line in a heated tent before getting a seat indoors—it’s that popular—but there’s live music, a silent auction, and ample socializing to distract while you wait. Here’s how the dinner measures up:

0 years missed since the dinner was started in 1886; this year’s feast marks the 131st consecutive year that it’s been held.

8 main ingredients in the coleslaw recipe, which originally came from Svea Elisha, whose family had owned the Hotel Jerome.

15 years that chef and volunteer Gerhard Mayritsch has overseen the food prep.

1 menu during all those years: pork roast, roast beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, bread, and dessert.

50 pies, cakes and pastries donated by local bakeries and home-baked by parishioners.

800+ people served last year.

300 pounds of potatoes mashed.

100 percent of money raised through donations at the dinner goes toward emergency assistance programs for the homeless and less fortunate in Aspen as well as to Catholic Charities.

Thursday, March 16, 5-8:30 p.m.
St. Mary Church
533 E. Main St., Aspen
970-925-7339, stmaryaspen.org