By Jim & Minnie Knych

Special to the Journal

We have much to be thankful for in this community.

The Community Thanksgiving Dinner is a way of expressing that gratitude with more than 100-plus volunteers working together with a positive and welcoming attitude that any fine dining restaurant would be proud of. These energetic volunteers prepared and served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to over 400 diners on Thanksgiving Day.

This was one of our most successful and smooth running Community Thanksgiving Dinners and we are very grateful to all the volunteers who bake pies, cook turkeys, boil potatoes, prepare and serve food and drinks, and wash a ship-load of dishes; both on the day before and on Thanksgiving Day itself.

All of this is possible because of the volunteers who are so plentiful that sometimes you have to elbow your way into the kitchen. The dinner was a great success enjoyed by everyone.

Special thanks to Islanders Insurance, which always cheerfully gives a large financial contribution to get us started, and to King’s Market for the contribution of 28 turkeys.  Community Treasures and the service clubs: Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, Soroptimists, American Legion, Sons of the Legion, and American Legion Auxiliary each donate toward the cost of the food and provide many of the volunteers.

Market Place helps us with special food orders and a discount on the food purchase. The Leos club and the “S” Club helped with table set up.

During the meal, Boy Scouts and the UGS (Unofficial Girl Scouts) came in to help with serving coffee and tea, greeting people and bussing tables. The San Juan Grange donates the use of the building for three days and the Friday Harbor Grange and LLB clubs coordinate the event.

There are many more individuals who cheerfully give their time, expertise and energy to this event. The list would be too long to print if we mention them all. But we are grateful to each one. Each volunteer and each group is an essential piece of the grand Thanksgiving puzzle.

It is very satisfying to participate in an event that has voluntary attendance, voluntary contributions, and voluntary effort that brings people together to recognize and give thanks for all we have. This is a labor of love for us and we are already looking forward to the next Community Thanksgiving Dinner.