Free Thanksgiving Day meal for anyone
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Polson Thanksgiving
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POLSON – If you don’t feel like cooking during this Thanksgiving Day holiday, plenty of prepared food is available for free at the Senior Citizen Center at 504 3rd Ave. E. from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“This is open to anybody,” coordinator Tracy Plaiss said of the dinner.
And it’s the place to go if you’ve ever wanted to share the holiday with more people. Last year, they served about 500.
“We have a celebratory atmosphere,” she said. “You can walk in by yourself, and whether you know someone or not, you will have an excellent Thanksgiving. We also have several families that make this a tradition.”
The whole event is free of charge. Donations are accepted if anyone wants to make one. The project sounds a bit like the season of giving, but Plaiss doesn’t want that holiday mentioned just yet.
“Thanksgiving is a holiday that often gets run over by Christmas,” she said. “But it’s an important holiday. It’s the only holiday we haven’t managed to commercialize, and it’s a time to be thankful for what we are blessed with — and I think the world could use more of that.”
The menu includes a traditional smorgasbord of food pretty much the way it was done last year and probably the 14 or so years before that.
“We don’t like to change a good thing,” she said.
And last year, the dinner included 27 turkeys, more than a hundred pounds of potatoes, 20 gallons of gravy, several pans of stuffing, many bowls of salad, plenty of pies, loads of rolls and other delicious foods.
“It’s all made from scratch,” she said. “It’s a high-quality meal.”
Fifty people volunteer to assist with meal preparations, and they help serve the food. A “fleet of delivery drivers” are on hand to bring meals to people if they need it. Plaiss said that if anyone wants to have a meal delivered, they can call the Senior Center at 406-883-4735. People can also call that number if they need a ride to the event or want to volunteer.
Many of the churches in Polson donate items to the dinner along with contributions from businesses. The Lutheran Youth Organization with the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church also volunteered to peel all of those potatoes.
“We have donations from Super 1 Foods, the Salvation Army and other businesses,” she said. “Les Schwab and the Polson Walmart donate every year.”
Plenty of extra tables and chairs are set up if people want to join the event on Thursday, Nov. 26.
“The energy in that building (during that event) is amazing,” she said. “It’s a happy place to be.”
