Thanksgiving feast brings community together

By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY

Staff Writer

 

The annual Crestline community Thanksgiving Day feast held at the San Moritz Lodge in Crestline was declared a total success by Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary President Mary-Justine Lanyon. The Rotary Club was the organizing group for this free meal.

Jeri-Lynn Miller, coordinator of the community volunteers, was given many accolades by the volunteers who worked for her, who said everything was so organized and ran so smoothly that it wasn’t really work at all, but an opportunity to interact with other community members.

In fact, the dinner was over at 4 p.m. and by 6 p.m., with the help of the volunteers, the entire San Moritz Lodge was cleaned, and they were ready to leave. Miller told the Alpine Mountaineer at 6:07 p.m., “We had such wonderful volunteers who helped make everything run smoothly.”

The community dinner served approximately 900 meals on Thanksgiving Day. More than 600 meals were eaten at the lodge itself, with people socializing with each other, and another 300 meals were taken out, some delivered to those who preregistered because they knew they would be unable to get there.

Longtime Cedarpines Park resident Maureen Mann, who was volunteering at the lodge, said, “This food is scrumptious.” Daniel Lahr represented the Lions Club, along with Libby Hayes and Catherine Johnson. Lahr came later in the day to be a part of the cleanup crew, saying, “I am again very impressed by this delicious event.”

On the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving there were shifts of community volunteers who prepped the food in the morning and then set the tables with decorations made by the students from the three EarlyAct Clubs at Valley of Enchantment Elementary School; those clubs are sponsored by the Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club. A team of volunteers got the turkeys ready to be smoked and deep-fried.

Matt Kritz, owner of Buddy’s BBQ, volunteered to lead the team smoking about half of the 89 turkeys that were to be cooked. He and his team spent the night at the lodge, keeping the fire going in the smoker.

In the morning, a team from Lake Gregory Church arrived to heat up the oil in a half-dozen pots in which they deep-fried the rest of the turkeys.

When the turkeys were ready, yet another team of volunteers “broke” them down, creating platters of turkey ready to be served to the diners.

The lodge was buzzing with activity on Thursday morning as volunteers put together the meals to be delivered. Fourteen Meals on Wheels drivers delivered 120 meals from Valley of Enchantment to residents in Green Valley Lake.

The meals being delivered contained turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, creamed corn, cranberry sauce, rolls and butter and pie – just like the meals served to diners at the lodge.

Kevin Ely, who lived in the mountains in the 80s and returned to stay in 1992, was happy to be at the dinner. “This is wonderful service here this afternoon; I doubt you could pay employees to get such great service.” New resident Jeremy Lavin was happy to be at the lodge and hoped to meet others in town. Since seating was at round tables of eight and 10, many people met friends or new neighbors.

Rick and Christina Hughes from Lakewood were up visiting their family cabin for the holiday weekend and thought the Thanksgiving dinner was outstanding. They also come to the senior lunches occasionally on Thursdays. “We try to visit the mountains as often as possible,” said Christina.

“This afternoon was fabulous, with friendship flowing and a real sense of wonderful ambiance. Where else can you get this joyous feeling of community?” asked Jeanine Just, who has attended this community Thanksgiving meal for several years.

Much to the delight of the diners, Maxx and Coreena arrived to serenade them with what they called “table songs.” Maxx played his ukulele and he and Coreena sang. Later in the afternoon, James and Keely of the Mountain Music School in Twin Peaks came and played Christmas carols. James played the guitar, as did one of his students, and Keely played the keyboard. They were accompanied by their daughter, Cadence.

Scott Markovich and his wife, Susan, had been volunteering all day at the dinner. “This is a good event, all the churches are here, they are the heart and soul of this event,” they said. “Our whole family makes this a yearly event and I’ve seen many here who also volunteer at Rebuilding Day. This event is for the whole mountain, not just Crestline. There are so many people who want to help our communities, who are here today.”

At the end of the afternoon, Anna Abrams from the St. Frances X. Cabrini Catholic Church arrived to pick up the leftovers to be sure that nothing was wasted. For the past 57 years at the church, they have had an outreach program that supplies meals three times a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. They encourage those in need to contact them for additional information on receiving these meals.

The Thanksgiving community dinner in Crestline is a longtime community tradition that the Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club took over managing several years ago. The community is very supportive and appreciative of this generous, free Thanksgiving dinner made for anyone who chose to attend.

“This dinner is about more than the food – which was delicious, thanks to Chef Fred Keville,” said Lanyon. “It’s about bringing folks together in community on this day when we all express our gratitude. After the difficult year we have had on the mountain, it was so gratifying to hear the buzz of conversation and the laughter that filled the San Moritz Lodge all afternoon.”

The Rotarians, Lanyon added, are so grateful to all the organizations that stepped up to help out this year. “Our club could not do this without the help of so many folks,” she said.