MATAMORAS, PA (WNEP/CNN) - Hundreds of people are expected at Wednesday's gun blessing ceremony featuring assault rifles at Sanctuary Church in Wayne County, PA.
But before that, church leaders planned a President Trump Thank You benefit dinner in Pike County.
"I'm eager to see how this whole thing is going to pan out for this area. This is a pretty low-key, semi-rural area. People kind of keep to their own business," explained Carl Braunagel with Goodfella's Pizza and Italian Restaurant.
Church leaders planned both the ceremony and the dinner before the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, nearly a week and a half ago.
"It's going to draw a lot of attention from people from this area, especially because this is an area known for Trump supporters and gun control is a big issue," high school student Anton Mackey said.
Because of the national attention, both events are drawing. Local businesses in this part of Pike County prepared for a busy weekend ahead of the dinner.
"We make a lot of pizza. We have a great Italian restaurant. We're getting our staff in line, preparing a lot of the foods that are coming in. It should be a very interesting event," Braunagel said.
The President Trump Thank You dinner will be held at the Best Western Saturday night from 6-9. Although no rifles are expected, one will be raffled off.
Guests are, however, encouraged to bring rifles to Wednesday's ceremony at Sanctuary Church.
"I don't really have a very good comfort level with that," Braunagel said.
Not because of guns, but because of the number of people that are expected to attend.
"I, myself, do carry a weapon. I think it's our constitutional right, but I do think we also need to be a little bit intelligent about how we distribute firearms," he continued.
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