While starting as a military tradition in Europe, dining out was gradually brought over to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War.

On Nov. 18, JFROTC couldn’t help but take on the tradition.

“The history of it is, the soldiers just wanted a night to forget all about their work and any issues in the upcoming year, to just forget about it all and have fun for one night,” senior Abigail Butler said.

Dining out was an experience that JFROTC had not participated in due to COVID-19. For Butler, it was a very special experience.

“It was the first time in three years, so we wanted to make it extra special,” Butler said. “I was the president of the mess, so that made it a lot of pressure to make things perfect.”

Taking on the role as president of the event is very similar to the president hosting a fancy dinner in the 17th century.

“I would introduce guests, and I was basically in charge of everyone and everything,” Butler said.

After all of the stress and pressure put into making the event come to life, Butler is ecstatic with the outcome.

“I think that my favorite part of all of it was that it actually got done, it just seemed like a dream because we thought it would never actually happen,” Butler said.