Community Thanksgiving Dinner
Between four and five hundred people are expected to show up at the Florence Elks Lodge Thanksgiving Day for dinner. Volunteers begin peeling potatoes and preparing the meal Wednesday. By noon Thursday when the doors open, there will be a complete traditional Thanksgiving feast.
The Florence Kiwanis Foundation is underwriting the dinner again this year. Kiwanis Club President John Murphey says it’s another way of supporting the group’s goals and mission.
“It’s open to anyone, and it’s free” said Murphey, who added. “We know there are people who may be alone, or can’t fix their own Thanksgiving Dinner.”
Cash donations, while welcomed, are not necessary. Money received that day will be used to help offset the dinner’s cost.
Meanwhile, Murphey said there are lots of people in the area that can’t afford to buy food. Donations of non-perishable food are encouraged… they’ll be shared with both Florence and Mapleton Food Shares.
The dinner is Thanksgiving Day from noon until two at the Elks Lodge. Transportation to and from the lodge from locations inside the city are being provided that day by River Cities Taxi.
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Viking Hour Pie Social –
The students who produce the weekly Viking Hour Radio program on Monday nights are thankful for the example set by their elders. That’s one of the reasons they’ll be hosting a “pie social” tomorrow at Siuslaw High School. Student producer Claire Waggoner says they’ll be dishing up dessert from one to two tomorrow.
205 – Our Viking Hour crew of about 12 to 15 will be serving pie to the seniors and hoping just to talk and kind of give back to the community a little bit.”
The Culinary Arts program will bake the pies, so it will be a complete student-created event.
Viking Hour is produced every week during the school year on KCST… it airs tonight at seven o’clock.
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Christmas Tree Permits –
Heading out into the forest to look for just the right Christmas tree is a long-standing tradition for many families. Often, those trips may take place over Thanksgiving weekend, or in the early part of December.
That’s why permits for gathering a Christmas Tree on Siuslaw National Forest land will go on sale today (monday, 11/23) at offices in Corvallis, Hebo, Reedsport and Waldport. Permits are $5, or if you have a fourth grader in the family with an “Every Kid In A Park” pass, they’re free.
Courtney Schreiber with the Forest Service says searching for a suitable tree can be frustrating. Local trees… primarily Douglas Fir or Sitka Spruce and they can grow quickly, sometimes making them too large to fit in a home.
You may want to have a specific area or tree in mind before getting your permit. Or, she adds, if you want one of the more popular trees like a Noble Fir, that grows at higher elevation, you may want to get a permit from the Willamette or Deschutes National Forest.
Permits are available locally at the Oregon Dunes Recreation Office in Reedsport… or at the Central Coast District office in Waldport.
