Thanks for the dinner….

Serving with a smile...all day. Photos by Minnie Kynch (thanks, Minnie!)

It was great the way dozens of people came together to make the Community Thanksgiving Dinner come together (you saw the video before) – here’s the backstory, by Minnie Knych:

Another great Community Thanksgiving Dinner
at the San Juan Grange

Over 400 folks came to eat & visit with each other....

Thanksgiving at the Grange was a day of sharing and caring as more than 400 people enjoyed a wonderful meal together.  This was the 13th annual event.  Despite the current difficult economic times, we do have a lot to be thankful for and that is especially true for San Juan Islanders.

How can we explain the army of volunteers and the masses of diners who join us for this day of giving thanks? Is it because people like the feeling of community and family? This is a time we can gather with a mixture of generations and viewpoints. It is a day we all join in the camaraderie of giving thanks for the blessings we have. Political differences and neighborhood disputes are forgotten. Everyone and anyone can bask in the feeling of family and community.

Many hands make light work...

On Wednesday evening, pre-dinner preparations include the Soroptimist Club and Leo Club helping with the set up of tables. Turkeys are seasoned and prepared for pick-up by volunteer cookers. Ingredients are mixed for the dressing, and the hall gets a final cleaning and decoration.

Thanksgiving Day starts off at a casual pace as the first of more than 100 volunteers show up to sip coffee and peel 150 pounds of potatoes for the mashed potatoes. As the diners arrive, the pace picks up and the volunteers have to rush to keep the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans and Waldorf salad replenished for the diners.

Dave (left) and Kerwin swap stories & peel potatoes (you can tell Oregon State fan David was dressed in orange for the weekend's game with the Ducks....)

The 28 turkeys are donated by our local grocery, King’s Market.  Island Insurance owner Kerwin Johnson donates $500 toward the groceries.  Lions, Kiwanis, Soroptimists,  American Legion, Legion Auxiliary, Sons of Legion, and Rotary each donate money to help pay for the groceries. The local Girl Scouts donate pies from their pumpkin pie sales and this year, served as greeters. (Be sure & see the video below – at the end they offer the Girl Scout Pledge!) Diners bring pies to share and many make a donation so that we are able to continue to meet expenses.

Once again, the Grange Hall served as the heart of the community. It is a great connection to Friday Harbor’s past and we hope it will continue to be a gathering place long into the future. But more important, it is a warm and friendly place to give thanks for the present.

Thank you to the volunteers, supporters and diners for giving us a wonderful Thanksgiving to remember.

Jim and Minnie Knych

You can see an awesome video of our Community Thanksgiving Dinner here:

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