By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The committee organizing the annual Crestline community Thanksgiving dinner at the San Moritz Lodge is seeking volunteers and donations for the free dinner that is available for anyone to attend.
This traditional Thanksgiving Day turkey dinner with all the fixings has been a decades-long tradition for the town. It will be held on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 28 – which is actually the latest date in the month that Thanksgiving can be held.
This dinner attracts both entire families – sometimes several generations of family members – and seniors who want to spend the day with others when their family cannot visit, young families who do not want the hassle of preparing a full Thanksgiving Day feast but love the flavors and traditions and all the other community members. It is a true community gathering, similar to the first Thanksgiving community gathering in Plymouth Colony so many years ago. The dinner usually lasts from noon to 4 p.m.
Last year, the community dinner served approximately 1,500 meals from the San Moritz Lodge on Thanksgiving Day. Over 600 meals were eaten inside the lodge itself, with people socializing with each other. Over 300 meals were taken out, with some 400 delivered to those who preregistered because they knew they would be unable to be there and others by the Meals on Wheels drivers. The San Moritz Lodge table decorations have in the past been created by students from the Valley of Enchantment Elementary School EarlyAct Clubs.
Now is the time to spread the word to area churches, clubs and friends, asking if they would like to get involved and help during the preparation in advance or during the day for this wonderful feast. This dinner has always been free to our community, but they need your help. Much planning has already been done and now they need help to make this community dinner occur.
Those who want to donate their time may sign up at Leisure Shores from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, or at a senior luncheon on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the San Moritz Lodge at noon. They may also email or call the senior center coordinator, Tamara Gomez at tmrgmz@yahoo.com or (909) 338-5036 with their selection of when they want to volunteer. If you have other questions, contact Chef Fred at (940) 923-7556 or by email at fred_keville@yahoo.com. They need volunteers on Wednesday, Nov. 27 to prepare the 80 turkeys and sides to be cooked, and on Thanksgiving Day itself to set up, serve and clean up. It is actually lots of fun and you get to know your neighbors very well working together in this way.
Groups that already are involved in the community meal are the Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club, the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club, the Mountain Meals on Wheels drivers who will be delivering some of the dinners to those who cannot attend, Goodwin’s Market for providing some of the food and The Lake Gregory Company, which is supplying the lodge for the community.
Anyone who would like to make a donation toward the dinner may send a check, made payable to the Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club, to the club at P.O. Box 1001, Crestline, CA 92325 or to the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club at P.O. Box 317, Crestline, CA 92325. Mark “Community Thanksgiving Dinner” on the memo line. There are also cash collection cans in some of the local stores.
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