<p><strong>By Peggy Hayes Dignity/Boston</strong></p> <p>The aromas of turkey shepherd&rsquo;s pie Minnesota wild rice hotdish Bavarian noodle hotdish corn casserole &ldquo;American chop suey&rdquo; Colombian short rib casserole and other hearty one-dish meals mingled with the final notes of Dignity/Boston&rsquo;s song of sending forth on Sunday March 3. The tables were set for the community to dine together in the church hall. This was the evening of Dignity/Boston&rsquo;s &ldquo;Heavenly Hotdish Social&rdquo; to support the chapter&rsquo;s fund to support scholarships to the DignityUSA convention in Minneapolis July 4-7. Funds will be used for travel expenses and convention registration fees to increase the participation of chapter membership at the convention.</p> <p>Organizers began planning about eight weeks out signing up cooks to create their own interpretation of Minnesota&rsquo;s favorite meal hotdish&mdash;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotdish&mdash;bring desserts or beverages and help with set-up and clean-up.</p> <p>They also report three keys to success: Keep the price point low (set at $10 &ndash; more if you can less if you can&rsquo;t) invite everyone from first-timers at liturgy to long-timers and promote the event relentlessly &ndash; announcements at liturgy the bulletin email blasts to the chapter list and Facebook.</p> <p>Tables were named for Minnesota landmarks: Mississippi River Nicollet Mall and Lake Wobegon. Two members of the chapter spoke briefly (and enthusiastically) of convention experiences &ndash; one who had been to one convention and one who&rsquo;s been at every convention since 1981.</p> <p>Fortified by a hearty hot meal tasty homemade desserts and a friendly post-liturgy supper atmosphere the community celebrated success: $710 raised for scholarships. Convention 2013 here we come!</p>