Polson Thanksgiving brings cheer
POLSON — Homes around the county hosted Thanksgiving festivities but few probably boasted the numbers that the Polson Senior Center saw come through the doors during its four-hour dinner — and that’s not even including the meals delivered to area residents.
Volunteer Linda Greenwood said more than 350 people attended the holiday dinner while 68 meals were delivered to people unable to make it to the center.
“It’s a free will offering, but the purpose is to provide a nice place to go for people if they want a great meal or if they’re by themselves or if they just want to come out and enjoy the music,” she said.
“I’ve gotten real good feedback on it; people seemed to have really enjoyed themselves.”
Hosted by the senior center and the Polson Ministerial Association, Greenwood said cold weather and heavy snow that resulted in slippery streets may have slowed some potential attendees, but she still thought attendance was impressive.
“Some of the deliveries went to the Polson Fire Department, Polson Police Department, county dispatch center and to sheriff’s deputies that were coming on or off shift,” Greenwood said.
Wayne and Rose Meyers, of Big Arm, were cutting a rug on the dance floor, enjoying tunes by the Old Time Fiddlers.
Wayne said the couple has attended before and enjoy the “great food, friendly people and the music.”
There was no way they were going to let a little winter weather get in the way of attending, he said.
“Compared to North Dakota blizzards, this is a walk in the park,” Wayne said.
People of all ages — including families and people by themselves alike — attended the community dinner that was a joy to work at, volunteer Melanie Mottinger said. Though living in Missoula, she said she braved the wintry roads to volunteer because she “loves” the community of Polson and couldn’t resist such an energetic, exciting get-together.
“I just moved to Missoula a couple of months ago from Michigan and I have no family here so I decided to volunteer,” Mottinger said. “Lots of these dinners are usually targeted for people in poverty, but this dinner is much more of a cross section of the community.”
The festive vibes lasted all day, as attendees praised the hard work of the 50-plus volunteers, the cooks and the bands.
“There were more volunteers than I could even use,” coordinator Genevieve Clement said. “People just came in this morning and said ‘I want to help.’”
The fourth year of the annual event featured plenty of music, volunteers and food — lots of food. Greenwood said the event offered 15 20-pound turkeys, with shares of the cost donated by the Salvation Army, VFW and Super 1, as well as 100 pounds of potatoes, donated by the Lake family. Homemade rolls, pies, salads and green beans rounded out the Thanksgiving spread. A Boy Scout troop and several local church youth groups helped keep attendees glasses and plates full, and assisted in clean up.
Music performances featured Trish Tavenner, who played piano, John and Marge Davis on the flute and guitar, Wings, Devlin and Lozar singing folk songs and spirituals and the Old Time Fiddlers rounding out yet another successful Polson community Thanksgiving dinner.