Volunteers drive Community Center’s Thanksgiving feast

Giving thanks is one thing. How about donating time, money, products or services to the annual Thanksgiving Dinner at the Sonoma Community Center?

For the upteenth year in a row, according to SCC Executive Director Kathy Swett, the SCC will host “a-no-holds barred, free to all, bigger and better feast than your grandmother could produce.”

Headed this year by Gary Edwards and Matt Murray, the dinner is made possible by the community efforts of over a hundred volunteers who prepare food, cook, serve, decorate and clean-up.

The dinner features organic turkeys, salmon, duck and most dishes prepared from the produce of Sonoma Valley farms, and will be served from 3 to 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25.

This year, the Thanksgiving Dinner in Andrews Hall will be SCC’s only holiday dinner.

Attendance at the traditional Holiday dinner, which was held later in the season, has continued to dwindle in recent years, Swett said, “so SCC will focus on making Thanksgiving the one community meal to remember.”

Organizers are seeking donations of flowers and decorations for the dining and serving tables, as well as desserts and locally grown produce and breads. They are particularly grateful to Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley, which has made a donation to support this once-a-year community extravaganza.

Anyone wishing to volunteer, donate goods, or make a financial contribution, is requested to call the SCC office at 938.4626, ext. 1 and speak with registrar Mayra Lozano.