Sponsors save Thanksgiving tradition in Dayton

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — An annual Thanksgiving dinner for those with nowhere to go is back on in Ohio, thanks to a chef who worked for Oprah Winfrey and other sponsors.

Chicago chef Art Smith, Dayton Fox network station WRGT-TV and its sister, ABC station WKEF, and Dermatologists of Southwest Ohio Inc. have agreed to save the annual Beerman Thanksgiving Dinner. It will now be called A Feast of Giving.

The Beerman Foundation, which organized the dinner for 40 years, said last month it was discontinuing the annual tradition here. More than 200,000 turkey dinners have been served to the homeless, the needy and the lonely over the years.

Besides cooking for Oprah, Smith owns a Chicago restaurant where President Barack Obama and wife Michelle dined on Valentine’s Day.