Carrying on a tradition: Despite the challenges, organizations give Thanksgiving dinner

MOSES LAKE — It was a drive-up event, but the community Thanksgiving dinner Wednesday went on as planned.

The community dinner is the work of a group of volunteers from First Choice Employment Service, the Columbia Basin Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center and the Columbia Basin Elks Lodge. Local businesses also contribute, and Jennifer Killian, one of the organizers, said First Choice employees had a food drive to supplement the donations.

The community dinner was started by agencies that served people with special needs, Killian said, but over time First Choice and its partners became the sponsors. Killian said she wasn’t sure how long the community dinner has been going on, but Job Corps culinary instructor Theresa Clement knew.

“This is year 25,” she said.

The Job Corps culinary students cook dinner every year, with the exception of last year, when Job Corps campuses were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For 2021, the students cooked dinner, but didn’t serve it.

Serving dinner was the work of Clement and fellow culinary instructor Minae Suetsugu. The students cooked and they dished up a classic Thanksgiving dinner, with turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and green bean casserole. Clement said each item on the menu is a chance to teach her students important techniques.

“I teach them the old-fashioned way. Everything is from scratch,” Clement said.

It does take a while.

“I came in at 2 a.m.,” Clement said.

“And the students came at 3 (a.m.),” Suetsugu said.

Customers drove up to the door of the Elks Lodge on Stratford Road and volunteers brought out dinner, complete with cookies or pastries for dessert. The last in-person dinner was in 2019, and Killian said she hoped to return to that format in 2022.