Despite a grey morning, Dewey Stennette took it upon himself to raise the spirits of the crowd gathered to see the Corner Table Soup Kitchen reach further into the community with a 1,500-foot expansion.

With a stomp of the foot and a clap of the hand, he led a crowd of more than 40 gathered in the gospel song "Heaven's Jubilee," prior to the groundbreaking.

Stennettte, who stood in line with the patrons of the Corner Table, is a preacher at the Pentecostal Church of the Living God,  and said that the lines of the Corner Table are a great place to "see Jesus."

"You can see him here at the Corner Table," he said. "This is a great place."

The Corner Table broke ground on the expansion of the facility on Tuesday morning with sponsors, patrons and volunteers gathered outside.     But the crowd was missing one.  

On Jan. 8, 2002, the Corner Table served its first meal at Beth Eden Lutheran Church, and within months volunteers, churches and Debbie Cloninger were able to support the mission.

Clonninger, a longtime volunteer, died Feb. 18, 2007. And her memory will be preserved with a cornerstone, dedicated on Tuesday by Bruce Prestwood, a longtime volunteer and member of the board.

"Little did we know that she was sick, and she never let us konnw how sick she was," Prestwood said. "(The Corner Table) was a cornerstone in her life."    

Cloninger's mother Margaret Dixon spoke on behalf of their late daughter.

"We think our daughter's life speaks for itself ... When we agreed to fund this, we didn't have any idea it included a cornerstone ...but we are so humbled and we thank all of you," she said.

Prestwood also shared the Corner Table's history, beginning with a simple white house behind Beth Eden Lutheran Church. Prestwood said it had a burnt out grill, and they served nine people soup.

Prestwood, a former officer with the Newton Police Department, said that of the nine people that they served with the first meal — on Jan. 8, 2002 — he thinks he rounded up six of them around Newton.

"I said, 'Hey you guys. You want to get some food, come on in," he said.

Recently the PGA Champions Tour named the Corner Table its Charity of the Year. The Champions Tour wives also gave to the charity, visiting during the tournament and serving food to the more than 100 the mission serves each day.

"They came down here and they cooked meals," Prestwood said. "These are people who don't mind cooking down here and getting a little bit of grease on their hands."

The money — $30,000 from the Champions Tour — the Corner Table received then propelled the drive for expanding, Prestwood said. And after the groundbreaking on Tuesday, the charity should have enough to expand to a capacity of 100, have some more storage and build a porch that will protect the patrons from the elements.

"We are cramped and we have a need to build," Prestwood said, adding that the expansion will more than double the Corner Table's size. "Hopefully we won't have to feed any more people, but (with this expansion) we can get them in, and out of the weather."

John Hunsucker, whose office is across the street from the Corner Table, lets the Corner Table use some of his space for storage.

"I think it's great. It's great for the community," he said, adding that some of the staff will cross the street to serve as "on-call volunteers."

Albert Reid said he recently moved to Newton from the Sherrills Ford area, and that the Corner Table was part of his decision to move.

"I think it's wonderful for the community, and the needy people of the community he said.

The Corner Table has now served more than 140,000 meals in its six years. The Thursday before Christmas, they served 198 people.

"Our overall philosophy is that if you're hungry come on in and get something to eat," Prestwood finished.