Turkey and trimmings for 23 years

The 23rd annual Platte Valley Helping Hands (PVHH) Free Thanksgiving Dinner is coming. The dinner will be held from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day-Thursday, Nov. 22-at St. Ann's Parish Hall, 218 Spring Ave., Saratoga.

The Thanksgiving menu includes the traditional turkey and dressing along with baked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green peas, relish trays, dinner rolls, beverages and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Take-out dinners will be available, and those who want meals to go can call to place their order on or before Nov. 21.

PVHH board member Gertrude Herold said that the dinners started after the Helping Hands board decided this would be a good event to benefit the community.

Herold said the dinner hosts a lot of families, including grandparents, parents and their children. The dinner caters to families who have not had the chance to fix a dinner or to people looking for some holiday camaraderie.

All of the food is homemade and the ingredients are donated by community members including the eight turkeys donated by Valley Foods and the Wolf Hotel.

PVHH volunteers prepare all of the food. The pie committee will begin baking the day before Thanksgiving and they will cook the turkeys in the Platte Valley Community Center kitchen.

On Thanksgiving Day, volunteers gather at 7 a.m. to begin food preparation. The volunteers tend to get into the holiday spirit and anybody who wants to volunteer is welcome.

Last year's feast served up 174 meals, with 58 meals delivered and 116 served at St. Ann's.

For more information on the PVHH Thanksgiving dinner, call Marilyn Verplanke at 326-5972 or Deborah D'Amico. at 326-3717.