A hearty helping of community spirit: Polson community comes together to say thanks

POLSON — The Polson Senior Center was packed for their sixth year hosting a community Thanksgiving dinner.

“We pretty significantly ramped up in the amount served this year,” Tracy Plaiss, the dinner’s coordinator, said.

Over 400 plates were served or delivered and 25 turkeys were cooked for the event.

The volume of turkeys cooked was so big that volunteers had to cook them in their own homes and bring them into the dinner since the limit for the senior center is 15 turkeys.

Over 50 people donated their time to help serve at the center, and they also provided delivery for the dinners along with picking up people who wished to attend.

“We’ll deliver to anybody who calls us the day before,” Plaiss said.

The center’s furthest pickup this year was in Dixon.

Last year the center only served 350 plates of food. Volunteers start preparing the meals at least a week in advance. It’s all made possible by major donations by the Salvation Army, Super 1 Foods and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The dinner is a partnership between Helping Hands Fund and the Polson Senior Center.

“Each year we get a little bit better at what we do,” Plaiss.

For many, it’s not just about the meal but an opportunity to catch up with people and visit.

“I enjoy it a lot,” 99-year-old Jim Eichhorn said. “I see a fair amount of people I know and it’s a good dinner.”

Eichhorn, who has been on Flathead Lake for 35 years has lived in Polson since 1990 is getting ready for his 100th birthday party in March. By the sounds of things, that party might be just as festive as Thanksgiving.

“It’s taken on a life of its own,” his daughter Jackie Trujillo said.

She added that the Thanksgiving dinner at the senior center has become a tradition.

“There are people I see here that I haven’t seen since last year,” Trujillo said.

The event has certainly become a Thanksgiving mainstay thanks to the donations by the major donors and the community members.

“We couldn’t do this without them,” Plaiss said. This is how we get the dinner done. There are people that come to this dinner that have no other options.”

Its importance is illustrated by when they start planning for next year.

“We actually started planning yesterday,” Plaiss said with a laugh on Tuesday.