ARLINGTON — She likes to help. He likes to tinker.
Their daughter, 17-year-old Anastaya, dares visitors to name a month of the year when her parents, Stephanie and Dorrel Dickson, aren’t up to some community-minded project.
Anastaya should know. She’s ridden on at least three of the floats her family has made for Arlington’s annual Fourth of July parade.
In February, the Dicksons started hosting a monthly doughnut party for friends and neighbors. They had hopes of maybe getting together 100 people. Everyone brings their kids, eats a bunch of food, hangs out and catches up.
Monday was December’s doughnut night, an affair where fleece pajamas and a winter coat were perfectly acceptable attire.
Their record attendance, in November, hit 101 guests. Anastaya, the third oldest of eight kids, is not above it all. When the guest list hovers at 98 or 99, Anastaya is known to call her co-workers from the hospital and inquire about their whereabouts.
When she finally counted 100, Anastaya “couldn’t sleep, she was so excited,” Stephanie said.
“That was my mom’s goal from the beginning,” Anastaya said. “I had to follow through with it.”
Before folks arrived, Dorrel cleaned off the seating areas, including a polished wooden picnic table.
“Someone who came to doughnut night, they donated it to us,” he said. “It’s one of the few things we didn’t have to build.”
Meanwhile, Anastaya encouraged her youngest sister to put on some shoes. As little sisters like to do, 22-month-old Leah had climbed up on the picnic table next to Anastaya, not wanting to miss out on such a perch.
The toddler gave her sister a firm no on the shoe idea, but stopped her protest as her mom slid the Mary Janes onto her little feet.
“She likes the no,” Anastaya said, already wise in the ways of toddlers.
The teen stayed busy throughout the night, whether she was making sure Leah’s cocoa wasn’t too hot or refilling the bin of toasted coconut among more than 15 options at the toppings bar.
Stephanie and Dorrel Dickson, both Arlington High School graduates, recently celebrated 20 years of marriage.
Dorrel was the 1971 New Year’s Baby — albeit on Jan. 3 — at the hospital in Arlington.
Four generations of the family are represented at doughnut night. Their ages range from Leah and her twin, Luke, (and yes, they’re named after the “Stars Wars” siblings, though both names also are biblical) and their 95-year-old great-grandmother, Helen Dickson.
Helen has five children, 31 grandchildren, 109 great-grandchildren and nine “great-greats.”
“That’s almost unbelievable,” she said, taking a delicate nibble of a plain doughnut. “I still have fun though.”
Sharon Dickson, Helen’s daughter-in-law and Dorrel’s mother, brings Helen every month.
“I like just how many people come who I’ve never met before,” Sharon said. Her siblings had a reunion at the property in August, camping out for five days.
Her husband, Lynn, stood sentry at the doughnut machine, making sure the bucket of fresh treats stayed full and no little fingers ventured near the boiling oil.
Dorrel found the industrial doughnut machine on Craigslist. That’s also how he picked up the antique soft-serve ice cream machine, which on Monday churned out an eggnog flavor.
“You want something, he tries to make it, or he picks it up on Craigslist and fixes it,” said Sharon, his mother. “I think it took him two years to get that ice cream machine to work.”
Each doughnut night requires about 25 pounds of dough, Dorrel said. The machine can make up to 400 doughnuts an hour, though he uses a lower setting, making maybe 300 for doughnut night.
He’d like to get a little doughnut counter, so he could know how many they go through. Yeah, he’s thought about making one.
Meanwhile, at the toppings bar, a little boy was pouring as much chocolate glaze on his hands as he did on his doughnut. Stephanie rushed over to hand him a plate. The boy gave the chocolate serving spoon a longing glance, licking the glaze from his fingers, before using the spoon to scoop some more glaze onto the doughnut.
The Dicksons won’t accept money for doughnut night, though their friends have tried. Stephanie tells them she doesn’t want the tone of the event to change.
When they were starting a family, money was tight, she said. They could take the kids to fairs and parades, but they had to tell them “no” on all the extras, like ice cream and popcorn.
At doughnut night, everything is a “yes.” In the summertime, there’s also a pool and a slip-and-slide and machines to make snow cones, kettle corn and cotton candy.
“We’ve had some families tell us it’s the only fun thing they do as a family all month, due to finances,” she said.
Lauren Hansen knows the Dicksons from church. She caught word of doughnut night on Facebook (the page is called “Arlington Family Night”) and brought sons Mathias, 8, and Elliott, 6. Mathias designed his “with sprinkles, chocolate, cereal and marshmallows,” he said, while Elliott went for a simpler creation of sprinkles and chocolate.
Their treats weren’t undeserved. “They emptied the dishwasher so they could come,” Hansen said.
Daniel Quigley, 8, has been to doughnut night “like 10,000 times,” he said. He gets to see his friends from “school, church and everywhere.”
His dad, Paul, leaned over to give him a taste of the eggnog ice cream, which Daniel declared to be “lemony good.”
Monday night always has been family night for Lashaunna and Kendall Hepworth and their five children. Doughnut night is something a little different, but it’s a good fit, Lashaunna said.
Her 13-year-old son, Noah, has his own philosophy on doughnut toppings. “I just add all of them,” he said. “It makes an interesting flavor.”
Doughnut night is a celebration and, according to 10-year-old Miriam Dickson, a chance to “bring our gifts to the world.”
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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