In Polson, volunteers dispense drive-by feast

Cars and trucks lined Main Street in Polson to collect Thanksgiving dinners from the Elks Club last Thursday. The drive-through dinner, commandeered by field marshal Tracy Plaiss, served 1,800 Thanksgiving dinners, made from scratch.

“This is my 21st year coordinating this, so it goes fine,” Plaiss said last Thursday, as she answered questions and issued orders to around 50 volunteers inside the Elks. “I mean, it's chaos, but it goes fine.”

Organizers had 1,600 requests for meals in advance, served an additional 200 to late comers, and had enough to feed 2,000. Leftovers are donated to entities in town who can put them to good use.

Plaiss says her efforts begin each January when she meets with her five-member core crew to “debrief” and begin planning the massive undertaking. “We’re kind of never not planning,” she said.

But clearly, their efforts shift into high gear as Thanksgiving nears.

For example, “we take 175 loaves of bread and turn them into cubes and until you've done that you have no idea how many man hours that takes,” she says. “It's a lot” (16 to be exact). All those cubes then must dry out before being transformed into dressing.  

Add to that: peeling, cooking and mashing 500 pounds of potatoes; roasting and slicing 90 turkeys; and concocting 70 gallons of gravy from scratch. And all the good stuff that goes with it: cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and pie.

Outside, the long line of waiting vehicles had dwindled by 2 p.m., even as helpers continued to pack meals into cars and trucks for deliveries. Patty Driscoll, who tracks and organizes delivery requests for a small army of drivers, says meals were taken as far south as Post Creek this year and north to the end of Finley Point.

This marks her third year as a volunteer, and she appreciates the camaraderie. “It’s all of those things Thanksgiving is supposed to be about,” she says.

For Sara Scott, also a repeat volunteer, the hard work began three days prior when a crew arrived at Cherry Valley Elementary to dissect the 90 turkeys that had already been cooked or smoked.

“I love that it's free,” she said. “And to see all these people from different backgrounds coming together with one mind. It’s refreshing.”

“Great communities are built on volunteers,” Plaiss said Thursday, watching her crew load food into boxes and bags for final deliveries. “And quite frankly, if the people that show up to do this every year don't show up, it doesn't get done.”

Ronan dinner delivers food and cheer

A few miles south, the Ronan Community Thanksgiving dinner filled a room in the Boys and Girls Club with tables of visiting people and the aromas of roasting turkey and savory dressing.

As this reporter entered the building, a gentlemen hollered there were at least 200 pieces of pie left. And there were at least that many – pecan, apple, lemon meringue, pumpkin, cherry, coconut cream, blueberry – keeping Sharon Caylor and Shannon Patton busy cutting pies and sliding slices onto dessert plates.

A young man named Nehemiah Myers had finagled small pieces of pecan, pumpkin and apple for his own private tasting plate in addition to a helping of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

Since the Ronan Community Center where the dinner is usually held is being remodeled, the kitchen was new for the volunteer crew. But the servers quickly seemed to navigate the efficiently laid-out space, and talked with dinner guests as they ladled and forked out the food.

According to Brandy Chisholm, who with her husband, Tom, has volunteered at the dinner for years, 24 turkeys were roasted. As tradition dictates, Valley Bank and Glacier Bank staff peeled 100 pounds of potatoes donated by Lake Farms on Thanksgiving eve. The spuds were boiled and mashed with lots of butter and cream for the feast.

Vats of gravy, roasters of dressing, green beans, quarts of cranberry sauce, and heaps of dinner rolls and butter augmented the feast.

One turkey cooked a bit too long, so the kitchen crew sliced it up, bagged it, and sent it home so Mission Valley dogs and cats could have a Thanksgiving treat, too.

The lights reflecting off the amber-colored floor warmed the gloomy day, and dinner guests saw old friends and met new ones.

All the moisture the valley has been getting, cattle prices, plans for the holidays, new babies in the community, and grocery costs all got a good going over as people stayed, talked, laughed, and drank coffee with their Thanksgiving pie.

A good meal with friends and neighbors is something to be thankful for and worth celebrating.

    Chuck Lewis chats with serving line volunteers at the Ronan Community Thanksgiving Dinner. From left, Kirsten Worf, Cody Burns, K-Ann DeLong, and Kermit Clary. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)
  

    Volunteer crew ladles boxes full of Thanksgiving fare last Thursday at the Polson Elks, where 1,800 to-go meals were served. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
  

    Two Elks members repurposed Amazon boxes into food containers for Thanksgiving delivery to homes around Polson and beyond. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)