Polson Community Thanksgiving Dinner feeds nearly 1,200

The 20th version of the Polson Community Thanksgiving Dinner will go down as a real doozy.

Despite having no sit-down space this year and being forced to work at an unfamiliar site, volunteers dished out 1,182 free meals on Thanksgiving Day, according to lead organizer Tracy Plaiss.

The annual dinner traditionally has been held at the Polson Senior Center, with local churches contributing side dishes and rolls. Coronavirus restrictions forced volunteers to seek a new site with a certified kitchen this year, and outside food donations were no longer allowed — every bit of the meal was required to be prepared on site.

Plaiss contacted the Polson Elks Lodge on Nov. 2 and asked if the lodge was available. Elks representatives responded right away with a “yes,” kicking off a hectic 24 days for Plaiss and her crew.

That effort culminated with a record number of meals being served at curbside pick-up or by delivery drivers.

“We had cars running down the parking spaces on Main St. all the way to (Highway) 93,” Plaiss said.

Last year the group served 557 meals, and they initially set out to serve about 800 this year. In the end, however, they cooked 50 turkeys and served just about everything they prepared.

“It went stunningly well,” Plaiss said. “We started plating at 10 to 11 and finished up at 2:30.

“At the end we had less than half a turkey left over.”

She said the community rallied during tough times to make the dinner possible, and there were ample donations to cover all costs.

“The community response was incredibly generous. I’ve never seen anything like it.”