Local church celebrates Thanksgiving

It was the mission of the Assembly of God Church to make sure that no one went hungry on Thanksgiving this past week. Anyone who was in need of a meal on Thursday was given a free dinner. Over two days, a full fledged classic style Thanksgiving dinner was prepared by members of the church and others from the community.

    The list of foods prepared could have rivaled any dinner in the town of Plains on Thursday. Marsha Wendell, the organizer and head cook, described the menu with great detail, “Turkey, ham, mash potatoes and gravy, cornbread dressing, green beans with bacon, cranberries, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, rolls and pumpkin squares.”

    The smell of ham covered in pineapple wafted throughout the tables and the sound of an electric saw tearing through the pineapple ham filled the place. Right up until the opening at noon, volunteers could be seen moving in out of the kitchen, moving trays of desserts, fussing over a ham, putting out the trays of potatoes, washing dishes, dirtying up more, and taking a breath after the hours of preparation. Wendell exclaimed, “I started at 8:00 yesterday... I had 10 people in here yesterday pealing potatoes!”

    Based on previous years, Wendell was expecting approximately 100 to 125 people to eventually come through the doors of the church. Just 15 minutes before the dinner would commence, the first few people were already showing up.

    “I like helping... I dry the trays, I just like coming and helping out,” said Kelli Baker. Typically, the Assembly of God Church has a free meal prepared every Tuesday for those in need. Every week Baker helps Wendell, who is the church’s soup kitchen organizer. This past week was special and all attention was directed towards feeding 100 plus people.

    This latest dinner will be marked as either the 18th or 19th time the church has hosted this event, noted by Wendell. All the food was donated by people and businesses in the area.