News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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Each November for the past six years, a cadre of dedicated volunteers has welcomed community members to their table for a Thanksgiving dinner.
This year, the Sisters Community Thanksgiving Dinner will draw some 300 people to Sisters Community Church from noon to 4 p.m. on Thursday, November 28, for a feast and good fellowship.
All are welcome for the community event. Jennifer Seher, one of the organizers, told The Nugget that the dinner draws people who don’t have big family gatherings and people for whom cooking the big meal just isn’t a realistic option.
“It’s a logistically difficult meal,” she said. “It can be expensive; it takes a long time to cook it.”
An afternoon spent enjoying a provided meal offers many Sisters folks a chance to “be with family and friends and just not be alone,” Seher said. “Come sit down and have a meal with your neighbors.”
Forty to 50 volunteers work to prepare and serve the meal, with support from local groceries. The volunteers work two-hour shifts, so they have time to enjoy their family as well.
Seher noted that one of her favorite aspects of the program is boxing up dinners to take to the Sisters Fire Hall to provide a Thanksgiving meal to the firefighters and EMTs on shift there.
“Everyone on shift gets a traditional meal even though they’re not home with their families,” she said.
Seher finds great satisfaction in the work, even though feeding 300 people is a huge undertaking.
“We live in a small town,” she said. “And this is what small town is. Everybody takes care of each other. I look forward to this all year long. It’s a long day, and it’s hard work and we’re exhausted by the end of the day — but it’s always the best day of the year.”
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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