Taking the initiative to ensure folks had a Thanksgiving

Dec 5, 2019 | Uncategorized

By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Managing Editor

The decision was made on Monday, Nov. 25 to cancel the annual community Thanksgiving feast, which has been coordinated by the Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary for the past several years.


That decision, said the club’s president, Gaston Maya, was a difficult one. “I didn’t feel comfortable having families come out in the projected weather,” he said.


The other piece to that feast is the preparation and delivery of meals to Mountain Meals on Wheels recipients and others who are unable to get out on Thanksgiving itself. Those deliveries usually take place on Thanksgiving morning.


But, with the forecasted storm, both the dinner and those deliveries appeared to be scratched.


Up stepped Paula Marzacola and Windy Oliver who took the initiative to prepare Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at the Masonic Lodge in Twin Peaks. Numerous other volunteers also stepped up to deliver those meals before the first wave of the storm hit on Wednesday.


Oliver, Maya said, has been in charge of the delivered meals for the past two years. “She took the initiative,” he added.


The Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club thanked the two women and the other volunteers in a Facebook post on Wednesday, adding that, without their efforts, those who would have had no way to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal got to do so.


“It broke our hearts to think these people would be without food,” Oliver said. “It worked out perfectly – we had the exact amount of food and the right number of volunteers.”


Jack Cooperman, the vice president of Mountain Meals on Wheels, said he got a call from Oliver, telling him of the plan to cook the meals at the Masonic Lodge.


“Our recipients got a good meal,” he said. “Turkey, stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls and butter and pumpkin pie.”
He got calls from several recipients, Cooperman said, telling him how much they loved the meal and how grateful they were.


Oliver said they delivered 70 meals on Tuesday night.

0 Comments

Share

rim bowling center generic 7 11 22 web
audio in english
audio en español
Daffodils blooming mountainwide

Daffodils blooming mountainwide

By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEYStaff Writer Spring must be here, as it is defined by the daffodils welcoming residents and visitors to the mountains. They are especially noticed on the curve of Highway 189 coming into Twin Peaks, just before Strawberry Lodge. Those daffodils...

Rim Honor Society does Earth Day cleanup at Arboretum

Rim Honor Society does Earth Day cleanup at Arboretum

  By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEYStaff Writer The Rim of the World High School National Honor Society does many service projects for the community each year. Because of social distancing, they chose smaller projects than usual this year, such as doing an Earth Day cleanup...

Future of Lake Gregory to be discussed

Future of Lake Gregory to be discussed

A free community informational meeting focusing on the future of Lake Gregory will be held April 22, starting at 6 p.m., at the Lake Gregory South Shore pavilion. Hosted by the Lake Gregory Community Advisory Committee, presenters will include Beahta Davis, county...