December 3, 2009
Ronan volunteers deliver a hometown Thanksgiving feast
By Jim Blow
Valley Journal
The gentle, often jovial idle talk between friends and neighbors mixed easily with the wafting aroma of roasted turkey on Thanksgiving at the annual Community Dinner in Ronan. Good food, good conversation and good music filled the Ronan Community Center last Thursday for the sixth annual Community Dinner, put on by a group of dedicated volunteers and key members of the Ronan Chamber of Commerce.
More than 300 people from throughout the Mission Valley sat down to enjoy a free turkey dinner with all the trimmings amongst neighbors. That's not counting the many dinners taken home for family members and friends who could not attend the dinner.
Diners enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving feast and a lot of conversation at the dinner table while music from the Pettit family entertained them for the first several hours of the meal. Other musical performers included the Romero family.
Described by organizers as "a gift from one to another," the dinner was put on from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., but there was a lot of volunteer effort before and afterward to put the event together.
The Ronan Community Volunteers were joined this year by the Ronan Area Chamber of Commerce, which co-sponsored the event. Co-organizer Cheri Houle noted that this year was a good time to infuse some additional volunteers into the program. Volunteers totaled 100, many of whom are making the dinner event a tradition in their own family.
"It's hard to believe that I'm one of the last original members of the organizing group, but there have been a number of people who come back to volunteer and serve year after year," Houle said. "The Chamber coming onboard has been awesome, too."
The organizing group she referred to revived the free community dinner tradition run for so many years by Marie Cowen of Ronan, who hosted the event in her cafe on Main Street.
This year's volunteers included some of that original group, as well as many others who have come onboard with the effort over the years. Ronan's own Theresa Walter is now a staple at the dinner, not missing one over the past six years. If you've eaten mashed potatoes at the dinner, Theresa likely served them up for you.
Kicking Horse Job Corps has been providing help since the beginning, including a group that helped with setup of the dining area the day before Thanksgiving. Also working into the evening of Nov. 25 was a devoted group of potato peelers who carved their way by hand through 100 pounds of potatoes. That group included Patti Winter, Tracy Suter, Brennin Grainey, Diane Grant, Phil Grant, Ky Bartel, Wayne Fuchs, Adina Fuchs and a number of youth from the Lake County Youth Home.
Most of that same group formed the core of volunteers who cooked up, served up and dressed up delicious food all day on Thanksgiving. They also entertained, cleaned up after diners, served as hosts, and cleaned up the hall before closing the doors. In all, 100 volunteers gave up a chunk of their holiday to put on the event.
They also brought a large amount of food, including 22 turkeys — Ky Bartel, and Janette and Kurt Roseman brought two birds apiece — and one cooked ham. There were also four pans of sweet potatoes cooked up by Diane Grant, two cases of cranberry sauce, two cases of #10 cans of green beans —that's a lot of beans, folks — a case of salad, dozens and dozens of dinner rolls, and bowls and bowls of punch. The gravy was made by volunteer Bonnie McCauley, who made gallons of the tasty topping from the turkey drippings.
Complimenting the dinner were 50 pies sliced up in hefty portions and topped with whipped cream. And, oh yes, seconds were encouraged.
Most of the food was consumed by 3 p.m., but the leftovers weren't wasted.
"We had very little left over, but what was left was distributed to the Second Circle Home and Lake County Youth Home," Houle explained.
Houle noted that she was most grateful for the dedicated involvement of the chamber folks, plus all the many volunteers from Ronan, Arlee, Charlo, St. Ignatius and Polson.
"People came from all over the Mission Valley ... I just enjoy it so much, seeing those folks. A lot of the elderly folks just keep coming back every year," Houle noted.
A number of businesses and organizations contributed to the dinner, including St. Char Ro Floral, The Lilly Pad Restaurant, Lake's Farms, McDonalds of Ronan, Meadow Gold of Kalispell, Lake County Extension Office, Lake County Commissioners, Harvest Foods, Hanson and Granley True Value Hardware, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Eastern Star, Cheri's Kitchen Catering, Arnie's Gas and Tire, and Anderson Broadcasting.
"We also had some very, very gracious monetary donations from people, way more than we've had in the past. Considering the economic situation it was quite a surprise to me," Houle said.
The food was good, but so was the conversation. Ruth Mahle normally attends the Polson Thanksgiving Dinner at the Senior Center, but a friend recommended she come down to the Ronan dinner.
"And she was right," Mahle said of her friend's advice. "This is a wonderful dinner and there's so many people (to visit with) that I haven't seen for so long." |
.jpg)
