With 56 turkeys and a hotshot crew of volunteers, the Polson Community Thanksgiving Dinner “is going well,” Tracy Plaiss said on Thanksgiving Day. 

Plaiss orchestrates the dinner with the help of Jo Durand and many gracious community volunteers.  

“We learn something every year,” Plaiss said. 

Since the Thanksgiving feast is take-out or delivery only, the  Mission Valley Elks Lodge dining room was the staging area. The well-oiled assembly line would have made Henry Ford proud. 

Durand was at the Polson Middle School kitchen baking rolls, pies, dressing, and green bean casserole. She and son Kevin made 27 large aluminum turkey cooking pans full of dressing and that many, if not more, of green bean casserole, which was then transported to the Elks Lodge.  

Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and salads were at the Elks Club, and the Thanksgiving volunteers had worked all day Wednesday and Thursday morning to make sure everything was prepared. 

Community members planning to attend called the “turkey hotline” in advance with their name, and the number of dinners they needed. 

On Thanksgiving Day at 11 a.m., the line of vehicles stretched from the front of the Elks Lodge down Main Street past the Showboat Cinema 6. As cars arrived, volunteers met them with a smile and a “Happy Thanksgiving,” took their name, and reported to the dining room to check off the name and double check the number of dinners desired.

For Polson residents who weren’t mobile, drivers made home deliveries.

All the volunteers serving food were gloved and wore aprons. Everyone knew his or her job. For instance, in the kitchen Barb Miller was making gravy in a huge industrial pot. Kathi Beeks had done a stint making gravy and slicing and packaging pie and was helping out as needed. 

With portions of salad in plastic containers, Billie Wall was supplying the delivery table while her husband, Tracy, was in another area loading hot food containers into a plastic carrier bag for another volunteer to take to the waiting car. If there were questions, Plaiss was on the spot.

Each dinner included “hot foods” – roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, dressing, and green bean casserole – and the “cold food,” including salads, dinner rolls, and pie. The main meal was packaged in a lidded plastic container, and the pie and salads were in separate containers. Dinner rolls were in individual plastic bags.

Orders were filled and delivered to the waiting diners, as the cycle was repeated over and over.

Donations were accepted and handed to bookkeeper volunteers.

The clean-up crew would come in after the kitchen closed at 2 p.m. Plaiss said she always assembles a clean-up crew as a first order of business. 

On Saturday, Plaiss reported that 1,872 Thanksgiving dinners had been served.

    Volunteer servers at the Polson Community Thanksgiving Dinner dish up a delicious feast for community members. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)
  

    Vehicles were lined up clear past the Showboat Stadium 6 waiting for their turn to pick up Thanksgiving dinner for the family. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)