By Anna V. Smith

Journal reporter

When Minnie Kynch was young and growing up in Tennessee, Thanksgiving was a big family affair.

A jumble of aunts, uncles and cousins would fill the kitchen and living room, creating an atmosphere of fun and family.

That’s the feeling that Kynch wanted to create for the community when she and husband Jim Kynch first got donations together to create the Community Thanksgiving Dinner, now in its 17th year.

“It was fun to have a crowd around, and I just think it’s the time to be with people and be with community,” Kynch said. “That’s what really makes it work for me, I love that. It’s my favorite holiday.”

Kynch said that last year almost 500 people came to the dinner, and this year they’ve ordered 36 turkeys, up from the 12 turkeys they cooked at San Juan Island Grange for the first year they held the dinner.

“We learned a lot from that,” Kynch laughed. “Now it’s an event that involves every service club on the island and tons of volunteers.”

The dinner takes around 100 volunteers to pull off, and Kynch said they could always use more people to help out with the dinner service, or baking pumpkin, pecan or other homemade pies, making gravy and roasting turkeys, and of course, cleaning up.

The Kynchs provide seasoned, oven-ready turkeys, and volunteers pick up the turkeys Wednesday Nov. 25, roast them in their home oven and bring them back Thursday for the dinner.

Anyone willing to help out with cooking, baking, serving, set up or clean up should call Minnie Kynch at 360-378-7040 or visit www.communitythanksgivingdinner.weebly.com to sign up for different volunteer slots.