A Community Thanksgiving
Mary Grace Galvin of Kalispell delivers plates of food to people attending this year's Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
Karen Breck of Kalispell, center, stops to talk with Doug and Judy Wise at the Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
Brandee Reinsberg, 6, of Kalispell, takes the initiative with a knife while she is eating her Thanksgiving dinner with her family.
Keeping the tradition alive
Story Body:By NICHOLAS LEDDENThe Daily Inter Lake
The hallways of the Samaritan House administration building on Second Street West were lined Thursday with roasters, attached to electrical outlets and placed strategically wherever space would allow.
And in each roaster was a turkey, slated to be consumed as part of a vast Thanksgiving feast for the Flathead Valley.
In all, volunteers prepared as many as 60 of the birds — in addition to 40 hams, 650 pounds of potatoes, 480 cans of green beans, 20 gallons of gravy, 96 dozen rolls, and 200 cans of cranberry sauce.
Volunteers dispensed hundreds of free meals. The goal was to prepare enough food to serve 500 people at the Samaritan House administration building, formerly the armory building, and deliver nearly as many to those who couldn’t make the trip — continuing a tradition started 27 years ago by Doug and Judy Wise.
The Wises, former owners of Sykes’ Grocery, began hosting the free Thanksgiving meal at their restaurant in 1982. But the restaurant closed in August, so other community groups stepped in this year to keep the legacy alive.
“It’s happened for too long in the past to let it stop now,” said Ron Trippet, who helped organize the meal and coordinate donations.
The Salvation Army, Samaritan House, Community Kitchen Feeding the Flathead, Prayer for the Harvest Ministries, area churches, former Sykes’ employees and others all worked to put the event together.
“We’re glad somebody’s doing it,” said Judy Wise, who with her husband came to partake in the meal. “And they’re doing a good job, too.”
To be prepared in time, organizers met for nine weeks prior to Thanksgiving Day. And on Thursday, they were joined by somewhere between 150 and 200 volunteers — cooks, dining room workers, and delivery people.
“Keeping the volunteers busy is the difficult part because everybody wants to help,” said Naomi Davidson, co-director of Community Kitchen Feeding the Flathead.
Wade Pulley and his daughter, Amber, cut and served pumpkin pies — more than 100 of them — in what used to be a rifle range. They showed up to volunteer and quickly were put to work.
“We just came on down,” said Pulley, who recently was laid off. “Partly because we’re going to eat here too, but we have nothing else to do so we might as well help. It’s something people should do all the time, you know?”
Local seniors and many others have for years relied on the annual Thanksgiving meal for food and fellowship.
Jeanne Reinsberg came with her three grandchildren — ages 6, 5, and 4 — whom she has adopted.
“From the bottom of my heart, I’ve met some awesome people here. And when I ask them why they come, they say to be sociable and get out and meet people,” Reinsberg said.
Reinsberg also deals with the financial stress of caring for three children and their special needs.
“It’s the economy too, don’t get me wrong,” Reinsberg said. “It’s a boost to help us out. Money is hard to come by, jobs are hard to come by, and it’s just helping everybody out.”
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com