SALVATION ARMY READIES FOR FEAST; THANKSGIVING MEAL DONATIONS NEEDED

Maj. Joyce Gauthier started planning Thanksgiving Dinner early, because she'll have plenty of guests to feed.

Gauthier basted eight turkeys Tuesday and will cook at least 32 before the week is finished so that the more than 600 guests for Thanksgiving dinner at the Salvation Army are fed.

Before next Thursday, she and other volunteers will cook a total of 75 to 100 turkeys and a dozen hams. After the meats have been prepared, the volunteers start preparations for the dressing, candied yams, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes.

Donations for the meal, like turkeys, candied yams, large cans of corn and green beans, are still needed. To make a donation, take the items to the Salvation Army at 701 Good Hope between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. Monetary donations can be sent to the Salvation Army Thanksgiving Fund at P.O. Box 802, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702.

Most of the work for the meal is done on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Gauthier said. It will be served Thanksgiving from noon to 2 p.m.

Volunteers come in that day to chop celery and onion used in the dressing, she said. "It's something like you've never seen before," she said.

Gauthier and her husband, Capt. Robert Gauthier, have been serving Salvation Army Thanksgiving meals for four years. She said that when she first arrived she wasn't sure how it would work.

But it has been a smooth operation, she said. Volunteers divide the duties from serving to cleanup. "It's really the community that makes this possible," she said.

In addition to serving people at the Salvation Army, volunteers will deliver meals to shut-ins or elderly residents who cannot make it to the center. And firefighters and police officers in Cape Girardeau will also be fed.

To get a meal delivered, call the Salvation Army at 335-7000.

The Salvation Army also prepares Meals with Friends during the last week of the month from January to October. Attendance at the free meals has increased this year, Capt. Gauthier said.

Typically 750 people are fed through the program, but 900 meals have been served this year, he said.

The Thanksgiving meal actually grew out of the Meals with Friends program and has become an annual tradition, he said.

First Assembly of God Church is breaking with its traditional Thanksgiving meal and donating food baskets to needy families.

The church congregation usually gathers for a holiday meal but will donate food items like canned vegetables, turkeys, rolls and pies for 20 needy families in the community this year. The baskets will be compiled Nov. 24 after the church's Thanksgiving service.

"Instead of consuming the food we would have prepared, we'll be putting it in baskets for the families," said Kathy Cartwright.

Thanksgiving services

Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance will hold its annual community Thanksgiving service Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. at Centenary United Methodist Church. The Rev. William Bird will speak, with music by a combined community choir.

Jackson Ministerial Alliance will have its community Thanksgiving worship service Sunday at 2 p.m. at Emanuel United Church of Christ, 304 E. Adams St. The Rev. Brian Anderson will speak.