<\/p>\n
Freedom. Community. Family. Kindness. The food, with all the servers.<\/p>\n
A crowd gathered outside St. Barnabas Episcopal Church was thankful for all these on Thursday as priest Leigh Waggoner blessed the annual community Thanksgiving dinner.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of free holiday meals were subsequently served to people of all walks of life \u2013 young and old, bachelors and families. Meals were also delivered to homebound residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe roasted 30 turkeys,\u201d said Waggoner. \u201cWe have 12 gallons of gravy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the turkey and gravy, the menu included green beans, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, pickles, black olives, and of course, pie. A lot of pie. There were approximately 50 pies total: apple, cherry, pecan, blueberry and pumpkin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very good,\u201d said Frank Yazzie, of Arizona.<\/p>\n
Yazzie and his wife, Rose, their son and two grandchildren were thankful for the holiday meal. Rose Yazzie said the family decided to take a drive, and just happened upon the community feast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all alone at home,\u201d she said, \u201cso this is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Church administrator Betsy Jones said scores of volunteers from across the community had been working for weeks to prepare for the annual event, which started 17 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t just a church effort,\u201d said Jones. \u201cThe whole community came together to do this. It\u2019s just a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n