Volunteers share meaning of Thanksgiving with diners

Showing the true spirit of Thanksgiving, a contingent of local volunteers came together to cut, dice, slice and serve a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to 200 area residents at the West Center on Thursday.

Guests were thankful for the giving volunteers, literally bringing the word Thanksgiving to life, and it was hard to tell who was enjoying themselves more — volunteers or guests.

Salvation Army administrators Ron and Evelyn Weppler, a crew of Green Valley News staffers and their families and many others formed three teams to set tables, serve and do cleanup.

“The Salvation Army has annually provided a free Thanksgiving Day dinner as well as a Christmas dinner for anyone not wanting to be alone. This year the Green Valley News sponsored the turkey dinner with the works — stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, warm cranberry sauce plus three kinds of pies for dessert,” said publisher Pam Mox, adding that the Mayan Mexican Bistro on White House Canyon Road did the catering.

Frank and Carmen Garcia of All Service Distributors in Rio Rico donated 30 cartons of honeydews. Volunteers who cut the melons appeared to enjoy a bit of assembly-line work.

For anyone who wanted to be a part of the Salvation Army dinner but was homebound, Randy Graf came and delivered complete dinners to 20 Green Valley residents. Graf said he’s been delivering meals on Thanksgiving since the Wepplers got him involved several years ago.

Major Estelle Clack, a Salvation Army City Coordinator in Tucson, led the guests in a prayer of Thanksgiving. Then, newspaper staffers and several of their teenage children formed a serving line to bring a full-plate dinner to every guest.

For dessert, two teams circulated with serving carts filled with a choice of pumpkin, pecan or apple pie. Whipped cream was added on request. Business manager Irene Redondo and Dan West, husband of circulation director Donna West, appeared delighted to be dessert servers.

In addition to not having to toil over and prepare a Thanksgiving dinner at home, those who came on Thursday also had the added benefit of camaraderie as each of the 25 festively-decorated tables accommodated eight guests.

Thanks to these Green Valley News staffers for giving their time and for sharing their families on this special day:

Mark Bollin, Mari Bon, Nancy Canez, Susan Dean, Connie Evenson, Regina Ford, Michelle Forehand, Graham Harrington, Brittany Hebert, Sarah Keith, Pete and June Lageveen, Jim Lamb, Pam Mox, Nick Prevenas, Irene Redondo, Jaime Richardson, Mark Schultz, Justin St. John, Heidi Tompkins, Kelly Walter, Donna West and Marilee Wright.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.