Salem continues a holiday tradition
A community Thanksgiving Day dinner draws people together.
SALEM — A free Thanksgiving dinner will be offered here Thursday for about the 20th time.
Those who are in need, or not in need, or who don’t want to cook for one person, or who want to get out will sit down, eat, chat and listen to music at the Memorial Building, East State Street.
Those who can’t or don’t want to come out can have meals delivered to their door.
Jeffrey Schoch of Salem, pastor of Abundant Life Fellowship in New Waterford, said he became involved in the dinner about 20 years ago.
It had been offered over the years by Don and Cheryl Herr of Madison Township, and Bill and Nancy Miller of Salem, among others.
The annual event is simply called “Free Thanksgiving Dinner.”
“It never really had a [formal] name,” Schoch said Monday.
Everything is done by volunteers. Because of that, Schoch said, “There’s no agency, no church, or organization behind it.”
Schoch added, “We’ve never had any problem getting volunteers.”
Much of the cooking is done at home. Other volunteers prepare the dining room and serve the diners, while some perform music and others make deliveries.
It seems many volunteers only see each other on Thanksgiving, so there is a homecoming aspect to the dinner, Schoch added.
Many meal requests are made well in advance of the dinner and many are repeat diners.
In 2007, the event served a total 518 meals, which included delivering meals to a local residential facility.
Despite the bum economy, contributions are up.
Schoch said Tim Annabell of Annabell’s Restaurant in Salem pledged five platters of turkey and five platters of stuffing.
Salem martial artist Mike Viola of Salem Self Pro Martial Arts had a kickathon two weeks that raised $1,410 for the dinner.
Viola’s business is at 788 E. Pershing St., which is right behind the Memorial Building.
Viola said, “One girl did 4,000 kicks. A 9-year-old boy did 2,000 kicks.”
The good news is the sponsors pledged a specific amount to participants rather than a budget-busting per kick pledge. The pupils collectively made 15,478 kicks.
Viola and his wife, Pam, will be at the dinner this year.
The Fraternal Order of Police in Salem also donated $500.
This year, people from farther away — Lisbon, East Palestine and Alliance — have asked for meals. One family is living in a motel.
Schoch recalled words from the late Martha Arn, a missionary from his church, who said the meal helps to embrace people that others might not.
But as the diners and volunteers come and go during the day, Schoch said, everyone blends into one community.
wilkinson@vindy.com