Hanna volunteers serve up Thanksgiving dinner in what is hoped to become an annual event
Attendees enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at St. Joseph's Church.
Sterling Conover gets leftovers ready for a guest.
Wayne MacPherson, right, gets his Thanksgiving dinner.
Volunteer servers have a break from giving out dinners.
The Thanksgiving dinner at St. Joseph's Church was a success.
Debbie Paxton can't wait to take her care package of leftovers home.
Sam Payne smiles as he helps serve Thanksgiving dinner.
The community of Hanna got together from 1-4 p.m. at St. Joseph's Catholic church to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday.
There were 16 volunteers on hand to cook, serve and clean up for the attendees of the meal that included turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, vegetable dishes, dips and many types of desserts.
This dinner started out as a community project by members of the Self-Reliance Small Business Group (SRSBG). Sterling Conover and wife Janet, Rose Dabbs, Oliver and Char Tanner and Becky Hobbs agreed they would try to have a Thanksgiving dinner for those in the town and surrounding communities that might be staying in the area.
They started approaching people for help and found remarkable support for the event.
St. Joseph's church offered their facility which has a commercial kitchen and large dining area. Food of the Rockies gave pies, vegetables, crackers and other sweets.
Hanna Market donated a turkey, pies and gallons of tomato soup. One resident gave $100 for more turkeys along with turkeys brought in by SRSBG. There were other residents that contributed hams, rolls, sweet potatoes and pies.
Dabbs said the churches in town made announcements of the Thanksgiving dinner to their congregations and the Town Hall made flyers for the event to be distributed throughout town.
The project started by SRSBG had morphed into an event supported by many residents of Hanna.
Medicine Bow had attendees too. Five members of the Payne family, residents of Medicine Bow, showed up to volunteer their services.
"The turnout was good and came in waves," S. Conover said. "It was gratifying to see so many come."
For those who could not physically make it to the church, the Hanna town bus provided transportation. For those who could not leave their home, meals were delivered. Vivian Gonzales volunteered her services to drive the bus during the event.
Like most Thanksgiving feasts, there were leftovers towards the end. Guests found themselves being sent home with care packages of the remnants of the Thanksgiving meal.
"It really was amazing how the community came together for this," J. Conover said. "I hope we can do this again next year."
Reader Comments(0)