BETWEEN THE LINES: COMMUNITY MAKES ANNUAL EFFORT AT GRATEFULNESS

Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays in recent years. As a child, of course, Christmas ranked at the top of the list of favorite holidays, but as I've grown up and reached that wonderful plateau called adulthood, Thanksgiving has taken on new meaning.

It's really the season of gratefulness.

Nearly everyone can list at least one thing to be thankful for, whether it's our health, family, shelter or a steady income. And as the aroma of roasted turkey, dressing and warm pies waft through our homes this week, we're all thankful for the feast of the Thanksgiving meal.

But not everyone in the nation will be celebrating with a feast. Some people don't even have enough food to eat today, let alone enough to create a feast.

Last week, I met some folks in Cape Girardeau who want to make sure that everyone in town can experience the bounty of Thanksgiving. Volunteers at the Salvation Army will cook nearly 70 turkeys and several hams to feed the hundreds of guests they expect for a noon meal Thursday.

Among the volunteers cooking and serving will be Darlene Allen, who has been helping prepare the meal since its inception in 1983.

"It's a fun time," she said. The Thanksgiving dinner is really an offshoot of the Meals with Friends program that is sponsored by the Salvation Army during the last week of the month.

Most of the people who came during that week were alone and didn't have family nearby, she explained. So Allen decided to create a program that would let them spend the holiday with a large group.

"People can come and relax and don't have to be by themselves," she said.

Since that first year when the exact number of dinner guests was at best a guess, the numbers have blossomed. Some come alone, others bring their families. Occasionally, even those who are just passing through town will stop for the meal.

Nearly 700 people are expected to gather for her turkey and dressing this year.

And Allen will spend much of Wednesday afternoon in front of a stove in preparation for the meal.

In the first few years, she recruited neighbors and friends, dubbed the "Moms on Whitener" to cook the turkeys. Now volunteers cook the turkeys in the kitchen at the Salvation Army earlier in the week.

By cooking the turkeys early, the whole place "just smells good," she said.

Good smells generally signal good food. And where there's good food, there is sure to be fun and festivity and with that an air of thanksgiving.

Enjoy the holiday season.

~Laura Johnston is a copy editor for the Southeast Missourian.