News you can use
News you can use
Lizzy Haney, 13, serves a piece of pumpkin pie to Cynthia Bryson during the Havre Community Thanksgiving Dinner in St. Jude Parish Center Thursday in Havre. Throughout the day, serving and cleaning up was a group effort by the many volunteers who waited on more than 400 poeple who ate in the center. Volunteers also helped prepare for the meal Wednesday and to package and deliver more than 450 meals to people in their homes Thursday morning.
Ronnie Joe Skidmore, 5, anxiously awaits her Thanksgiving dinner as volunteers fill her plate with food at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish Center Thursday, November 22, 2018 in Havre, Mont. Free meals were given out from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of Havre's annual community Thanksgiving dinner.
Will Rawn plates mashed potatoes as a line of hungry people passes by the kitchen window Thursday, November 22, 2018 at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish Center in Havre, Mont. The volunteers were all given a chance to eat towards the end of the event when crowds dissipated.
Heather Haney returns to a side room filled with pumpkins pie while helping distribute dessert during Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, November 22, 2018 at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish Center in Havre, Mont. Haney and her husband Micky were in charge of the pies and received help from their children.
Steven Standinghorse exits line with a plate full of food during Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, November 22, 2018 at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish Center in Havre, Mont. Hundreds of meals were served, and all of the extra cooked food is being donated to the local soup kitchen.
The St. Jude Thaddeus Parish Center slowly fills as dinner is served Thursday, November 22, 2018 in Havre, Mont. Head chef Peter Bruni described the holiday crowd as "steady."
Volunteer Fred Finke piles corn onto a plate during the community Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, November 22, 2018 at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish Center in Havre, Mont. Finke was first in line of about eight volunteers filling plates.
Havre's Community Thanksgiving Dinner stretches farther than just Havre, and welcomed people from near and far to join in the festivities Thursday at St. Jude Parish Center.
Linda Finke of Big Sandy and her husband Fred and daughter Grace have volunteered at the community Thanksgiving dinner for six years. Linda Finke said there are a lot of people in need every year, be it a need of a hot meal or a place to spend the holidays, and it becomes very prevalent this time of year.
"It makes a person humble," she said.
She added that she loves events like the community dinner and enjoys seeing people.
Her daughter Grace, 17, said she has volunteered with her parents every year. She added that she was having fun at the event and likes to be able to see the joy on people's faces.
"It's something that a community can bond over," she said.
Grace Finke added that the most rewarding part of volunteering was seeing the joy in the community.
Linda Finke said it is great when a community gets together to give rather than receive.
She added that six years ago, Debi Rhines, the event organizer, told them about the event and got them interested in volunteering.
It's a place to give thanks, Finke said, and makes a person appreciate what America is about. Welcoming all walks of life to come together, "break bread and thank the Lord," she added.
Some of the younger volunteers at the event were sister and brother Lizzy, 13, and Grady Haney, 9. They both said they liked to help out. Lizzy Haney said this was their first year volunteering at the event and they were both having a lot of fun.
"I like putting whip cream on the pies," she said.
She added that her and her brother will probably want to volunteer again in the future.
Robert and Edna Kuhn of Havre said this year was a great dinner.
Robert Kuhn added that events like the community dinner are important for a community. People can see other people whom they never usually see, he said.
"People grow into the woodwork," he said.
He added that people don't always live far away but throughout the year people can forget that they are there, right next door. The community dinner provides a place to converse with their neighbors and celebrate the holidays with the community, Kuhn said.
Ken and Stella Tyler of Havre said it is nice seeing people chatting together and great to see people coming together and helping each other out.
Ken Tyler said he and his wife moved to Havre from Washington State four years ago and events like this are important to a community because it helps bring people together.
Stella Tyler, who was taking a tally at the front door of people attending, said she watched people come in throughout the day and something she has noticed was that they come in happy.
She said she counted 306 people who attended the event and wished more people came and it is important that everyone can get a hot meal.
Head Chef Peter Bruni said he has been a volunteer with the community dinner since 2009. Bruni said he was a chef in the military for 20 years before coming to Havre to work as the executive chef at the Duck Inn. He added that he also designed the menu for Murphy's Irish Pub for the old location as well as for its present location.
He said he enjoys giving back to the community and seeing and meeting all the people that come through and volunteer.
Bruni said he has also streamlined the process for the dinner to efficiently serve everyone who attends. He added that they also delivered 467 Thanksgiving dinners to people around town in addition to more than 400 dinners served at the parish center.
He said many things have to be done to make the dinner but he likes cooking it all. Bruni said he even does a special gravy for the event to make it just a little more special.
They cut 39 turkeys for the dinner this year, he added, each turkey being close to 10 pounds, equalling about 390 pounds of turkey alone.
Debi Rhines has been in charge of organizing the event since 2011. She said Thursday was a beautiful day for this year's event and everything was very calm.
She said the fellowship people give one another as a community is a very positive thing.
"People taking care of each other," she said.
The dinner is important to the community, Rhines said, because it brings community spirit, laughter and love to everyone.
She added that all of the left-overs from the dinner this year will go to the Feed My Sheep Soup Kitchen.
Reader Comments(0)