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November 23, 2009

Churches prepare for Community Thanksgiving

Kathy Toppins

EDMOND — The aroma from 32 turkeys roasting in the kitchen at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church was the first sign on Monday morning that the Edmond Community Thanksgiving Dinner soon will be served. Five more churches shared the responsibility for roasting a total of 150 turkeys.

Edmond churches welcome all to the free Thanksgiving dinner from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Nigh University Center ballroom on the University of Central Oklahoma campus. The community encourages large families, single people, students far from home, travelers to Edmond and people with and without resources to join in the feast.

On Monday morning, Melanie Krenek stuffed a pound of real butter into the main cavity and under the skin of the legs and neck of each turkey. The buttery juices that remain after the turkeys roast are used to make a rich, flavorful stuffing and gravy. The 10-year volunteer also served as the kitchen mathematician, converting recipes made to serve one family into recipes for serving thousands.

Susan Bennett, a 12-year volunteer and chief turkey cooker for St. John’s, said she would be done roasting the turkeys by 4 p.m., roasting each turkey for about 3 1/2 hours.

Bennett also took over as sweet potato chef last year and continues in that role. After baking and peeling the sweet potatoes, she makes a sauce of butter, orange juice, brown sugar and honey to pour over the sweet potatoes. She returns the sauce-covered sweet potatoes to the oven until the sauce caramelizes. Bennett said she uses her mom’s recipe, minus the pecans, to protect guests with nut allergies.

Tori Everett, a member of Church of the Good Shepherd, joined the St. John’s volunteers to carve the turkeys as they came out of the ovens. Offering advice to other volunteers, the first-time volunteer said, “Wear short sleeves. Wear gloves because you’re going to dunk turkeys and cut them.” The best part of volunteering is “meeting some fun people,” Everett said, as she pointed to Phil Gottschalk, a volunteer for the past 15-20 years.

“I’ve never cooked a turkey. I’ve never done any of this before. I just eat it,” Everett said. “I see how much work actually went into it.” She said she appreciates her mom “a lot more.”

Biruta Harris, head of the Host Committee, said volunteers anticipate feeding 3,000 people. Last year, she said, they served 2,000 at the university and provided 400 home deliveries, as well as take-outs and giveaways to local charities. Harris said they have 518 volunteers involved in the dinner preparation and will have more last-minute volunteer help on Thanksgiving day.

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church is the main host for the dinner and First United Methodist Church is serving as the junior host, preparing to be the main host next year. Four other core churches involved in the dinner are First Presbyterian, New Covenant United Methodist, Southern Hills Christian and First Christian. Many other churches participate by providing home-baked pies, donated food and volunteers.

For more information and home delivery, please call 341-3602.



ktoppins@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 112

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