FARGO (AP) - North Dakota State University staff and students plan to study the tradition of fall suppers in towns and rural churches across the state.

Fall suppers have been a community institution in this part of the country since at least the 1930s, said Tom Isern, director of NDSU's Center for Heritage Renewal.

"You'll have a little church with maybe 50 active members, and they'll feed 600 people with turkey, lefse and kraut," Isern said. "You'll see suppers also serving sausage or other local specialties, like kolaches."

Isern wants to compile a directory of the annual events to help organizers publicize them, and put the directory on the center's Web site, http://www.ndsu.edu/heritage. He also wants to provide a learning experience for his history students. They will be assigned to document details of the tradition by collecting interviews and taking photographs.

"This will be an excellent opportunity for students to get into the field. Talking with real people will give them a great hands-on experience," said Jeff Armstrong, the center's assistant director.

Isern said each of the hundreds of fall suppers in North Dakota has its own traditions.

"In one, you'll find a guy who's been on the potato crew for 30 years," Isern said. "The reason things go so smoothly at these suppers is that someone has been doing the job for many years. One group is responsible for mashing the potatoes, someone else makes the gravy, and another crew is responsible for the kraut."

The very act of putting on a supper is a ritual of renewal for a community, and also a ritual of homecoming, Isern said.

"People will drive in from Minneapolis or farther," he said. "There are folks who fly home just for the fall supper."