Diners bite into Longest Table potluck

That smells delicious.

Flocks of people descended upon City Park in Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday evening for a massive community potluck. Called The Longest Table, host United Way of North Idaho invited everyone to provide and enjoy an array of their favorite dishes in a communal setting.

“I think it’s beautiful,” Madison Reeder, a Coeur d’Alene resident and event attendee, said of the potluck. “I like all the decorations and flowers, and I think it makes everything look really nice.”

The Longest Table originally began in New York. Following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, organizers decided to host an event that encouraged folks to come back into the community and foster conversation and reduce isolation — all around a delectable meal.

That inaugural event in Manhattan attracted some 500 attendees. Coeur d’Alene’s event Wednesday spurred 45 RSVPs, with many additional walk-ups. United Way organizers anticipated up to 75 total visitors.

Reeder said she attended Wednesday’s event because she wanted to give back to the community “for everything they’ve done for the city” and, also, “there’s food.” 

“It’s important to me because if we give back to the community, we can get more events like this and it can get bigger,” Reeder said. “Maybe one day, there can be something official, instead of it just being every once in a while.”

The waft of hot food could be detected well outside the potluck area at City Park. Foods included various side dishes, desserts, a charcuterie board created by United Way North Idaho Executive Director Erica Wrublik and catered fare offered by Olive Garden.

“It’s looking great,” said Coeur d’Alene resident James Fillmore as he filled his plate with spaghetti.

According to Hailey Hill, a United Way North Idaho community impact manager, this is the very first Longest Table event held in North Idaho.

The event was set up using 10 picnic tables attached to each other at their ends. Hill, however, said if the event is successful enough, the goal is to extend this gigantic makeshift table all along Sherman Avenue.

“The whole point of this event is to bring people together without any barriers,” she said, adding that the event is free and no one will be turned down. “There's really no rhyme or reason or theme to the food, so it really is true potluck.”

In addition to the food, attendees had their pictures taken via old-school instant film and were asked to say, in one word, what community means to them. With responses like "friendship" and “connection,” those photos were hung in a mosaic gallery right next to the food.

“It’s really cool to see that people took the time to put things together and come out,” Hill said.

    A charcuterie board at the Longest Table event in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday.
  

    Diners enjoy the Longest Table event in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday.
  

    Cali Ogden provides some giant bubbles for the Longest Table event in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday.