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Friday, July 25, 2025 at 6:25 AM

Free Christmas Eve dinners

Top Gun Restaurant gives to the community
Free Christmas Eve dinners

Chuck Doucette, owner of Top Gun Restaurant, is busy organizing a Christmas Eve dinner for those in the Fallon area who may need a bit of extra cheer and support this holiday season. 

Chuck moved to Fallon from Reno, originally from the New England area, seven years ago. He opened Top Gun Restaurant, and that first year, he offered a Thanksgiving dinner for the community. But, as time went on, Chuck realized that there were other organizations that did Thanksgiving dinners, but no one was doing a dinner on Christmas Eve.  

Since its inception, this event has been supported by various merchants from the area, some of Chuck’s customers, and different community organizations. Donations of food items, dinner utensils, or money are greatly appreciated and can be dropped off at the restaurant up until the day before the event. It’s an everyone pitches-in event. “Fallon is a beautiful community…We have troubles…we obey the rules…but we still do what we’ve got to do.” As owner of his own restaurant, Chuck will be filling in any of the items still needed to complete dinners after all donations have been used. 

This year Chuck has 28 volunteers, and he gave COVID as part of the reason for the increase in volunteers. “There is an opportunity right now for people to be kind to people. I want the opportunity to be there for other people. To enjoy giving to others…Even if you only have a little part, it makes people feel good and that’s what we need to do right now. We need that more than anything.” 

Chuck proudly said, “I have a restaurant. We do deliveries. I can tell you I’m pretty good at this. We have enough volunteers that I can guarantee that from the oven, we can get them right to their homes in 20 minutes.” Part of what makes this possible is the support from the Wolf Center, Epworth Church, and Ron and Barbara Evans who have donated the kitchen for the cooking of the meals. The size of the kitchen at their facility allows for much more efficient baking and preparing of the dinners. Chuck thanked them for always have been supportive of events that support the community. 

So far there are 275 meals on the list for dinners and names for meals will be taken until December 23rd, he last day before the dinner is delivered. Chuck expects this list to double. The last time Chuck served dinners was 2018 and they served 500 + meals. 

To add names to the list, send an email to [email protected] and let them know how many meals will be needed Christmas Eve evening, the address to deliver meals to, and a phone number to contact once routes have been set. It is also nice to know ages as often there are kids in the homes. One year a local organization donated toys for every one of the kids. Though he is not sure if that will happen this year, as donations vary yearly, but just in case, Chuck asks for ages of children in the home. 

As the holiday season rolls in, Chuck and his crew will be rolling out on Christmas Eve with hot meals for welcoming tummies. 

 


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Comment author: Mike HinzComment text: I knew Sam as a member of our church growing up. He always had a warm smile, a kind word, and a great sense of humor! He will be great missed!Comment publication date: 7/2/25, 11:57 AMComment source: Obituary -- Samuel Bruce WickizerComment author: Mike HinzComment text: Great teacher, great coach, but even a better person!!! Rest in peace Mr. BeachComment publication date: 7/2/25, 11:53 AMComment source: Obituary -- Jack Victor Beach, Jr.Comment author: Mike HinzComment text: I had Mrs Hedges for First Grade at Northside Elementary in 1969. I still, to this day, remember her as a wonderful teacher…one of my favorites!!Comment publication date: 7/2/25, 11:29 AMComment source: Obituary - Nancy Marie Hedges C Comment author: Carl C. HagenComment text: What are MFNs and PBMs ?? ............................ From the editor: This is a very good question and we apologize for not catching that wasn't in there. We reached out to the writer/submitter and got this info back...hope it's helpful. PBM: Pharmacy Benefit Managers are pharmacies that are owned by insurance companies. (CVS is one.) They negotiate with drug makers to get reduced pricing for medications, but they historically have not passed along those savings to patients. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/pharmacy-benefit-managers-staff-report.pdf MFN: Most Favored Nation pricing is a policy that means a country agrees to offer the same trade concessions (like tariffs or price reductions) to all member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). When applied to pharmaceuticals, it could disrupt global access, deter innovation, and obscure the deeper systemic issues in American health care. https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2025/05/22/the-global-risks-of-americas-most-favored-nation-drug-pricing-policy/Comment publication date: 6/23/25, 7:47 AMComment source: L E T T E R TO THE EDITOR
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