The following was written in 2011, for a collection of stories published in 2014 upon the 30th anniversary of Feed the Hungry San Miguel.
The Beginning: Bill and Martha Casselberry
Dianne Walta Hart’s email interview with their daughters Laura Casselberry Umthun and Anne-Marie Casselberry Kimmett, 2011
The Feed the Hungry program was very near and dear to father’s heart and he spoke of it often.
Mom and Dad were great world explorers – they enjoyed Dad’s stint in the Navy as they got to see far corners of the world. I don’t think Dad ever lost his zeal for travel.
They heard about San Miguel de Allende in 1979 and made their first trip around that time. I’m not sure of the date, but I remember that they went down for a month and ended up being gone for three months, only to return to make plans to visit again ASAP for six months! They were in love with the small community of artists and musicians. At that time I think the number was around 1,000 ex-pats and very few “snow birds.”
Early on, they became very involved in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Miguel. Mom told me that in those early days there were three or four funeral processions a week on their street which led to the town center. Most often there were tiny coffins and weeping mothers. It broke both her and Dad’s hearts to see this. At some point they could no longer ignore or look the other way at the hungry, sick and suffering children and Dad quietly started the program. He was very humble about this. In fact, I didn’t hear about it for many years.
After almost 20 years, the community of Americans in San Miguel swelled; many of the original group they had befriended had either moved back to the States or died. They found solace in the fishing village of La Manzanilla. In the late 1990s, Dad designed and oversaw the building of his dream home on the beach. They sold and left that area in 2004.
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