The annual community Thanksgiving dinner will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at St. John Lutheran Church.
The dinner will be open to the entire community, regardless of income level. Last year, more than 600 meals were served, including dine-in, carry-outs and deliveries.
Anyone needing to have a meal delivered should call the church office at 231-4085 by 3 p.m. Wednesday.
A traditional Thanksgiving menu will be featured, including turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, dressing and numerous desserts, including pumpkin, cherry and apple pie, pumpkin roll and cake.
Students in Susie Dalton’s Pittsburg High School family and consumer science classes will peel, cook and mash 250 pounds of potatoes.
Yams are also on the menu. Thelma Wuerdeman, Marilyn Davis and Mona Kubler gathered Monday at the church to drain and mash 10 gallon cans of yams.
“This job takes some muscle,” Kubler said.
“After the yams are mashed, they’ll put them in big pans, doctor them up and put marshmallows on top,” Wuerdeman said.
Food donations, including turkeys, salads and desserts, come from various churches, sororities and individuals in the area. The Pittsburg State University Key Club will put up posters concerning the event in businesses around town.
Steering committee for the event consists of Lance Davis, Beth Bradrick, Diana Kerle, Carolyn Lamborn and Kathy Sanley.
The 2009 meal will be dedicated to the memory of Carol Jemison, who died June 13 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, and there will be an “in memorium” picture/plaque of her at the event.
Jemison was one of the founding members of the Thanksgiving meal about 25 years ago. She and a couple of her friends were discussing the holiday, and decided to have a dinner not only for those with limited incomes, but open to anyone who might otherwise be alone on the holiday.
“This has remained the focus of the meal — to be an event for anyone who wants to come out and have a good, hot Thanksgiving meal with others,” Sanley said. “It was important to those founders that they used real plates, silverware and tablecloths, just as you would have at a traditional family meal, rather than using disposable items. Throughout the years, this has also continued to be a tradition of the community meal.”
There is no charge for the meal. Those who wish may leave a free will offering to help defray the cost of food that is purchased.
