The history of the South Fork Kiwanis Thanksgiving Day dinner

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Thanksgiving Day, 19 years ago, a member of the South Fork Kiwanis Club was alone in his living room with his dog, Babe, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich watching football games. He had none of the traditional Thanksgiving Day smells or joyful sounds of the annual occasion. That person was John Graeser. Later that day, Graeser had two fellow Kiwanis members, Larry Heersink and Norm Clark, join him in watching football. It was this Thanksgiving Day 1990 that the concept for the South Fork Kiwanis Thanksgiving Day community dinner was born.
The following year, South Fork Kiwanis members Larry Heersink, John Graeser, Tom Faris and Norm Clark set out on a mission for those living in the San Luis Valley to be served a free traditional homecooked Thanksgiving dinner with all of the fixings. They did not want anyone to not partake in a Thanksgiving dinner without others sitting at the same table.
Weeks prior to the first dinner, four men, spearheaded by Tom Faris, scoured the Valley asking for cash, food, cookware, sponsors and volunteers in order to create the Thanksgiving Day tradition that thousands of people have enjoyed over the past 18 years.
    That first year, over 150 people were fed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. At the peak of the event over 700 hungry locals arrived for their free meal while socializing with old friends and meeting new ones.
This was my first Thanksgiving Day dinner at the South Fork Community Center. I arrived at noon, put a donation in the pickle jar and introduced myself. When I stepped into the community center I was overwhelmed by the wonderful aroma from the prepared dinner. Then I began to feel like I was in a gigantic Norman Rockwell painting. Everyone is smiling, greeting old friends, introducing family members from as far away as Minnesota to their local friends while all of the volunteers are asking you to sit down so they can bring you a heaping plate of food.
The doors opened at 11 a.m. and already 166 people had arrived and were being served. In passing, I asked some people leaving with several large Styrofoam covered containers in their arms if they were already giving out leftovers. They answered no we are delivering complete Thanksgiving dinners to people in South Fork and Del Norte who are housebound for health reasons. For some reason a true feeling of community overwhelmed me.
I was told later that if you wanted a leftover plate to take home that it required a $5.00 donation. The first plate was free to attendees and those shut-in their homes, however.
I was immediately greeted by South Fork Kiwanis Club president, Karen Miller and the club’s treasurer Chuck Rector. Being the treasurer, I asked Chuck how much this cost the club to put on each year. He would not divulge the sum, but instead replied that this was about supporting the community and not the expense.
I was told that every dish was prepared from scratch and this was the first year that they had not served dehydrated potatoes. Kiwanis member, Dick Ramstetter had donated fresh russet potatoes from his farm in Center. Miller said that they peeled and cooked potatoes the entire day before the dinner but smiles on diners faces made it worth it. In addition to mashed potatoes, the group served dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes, homemade gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin and pecan pies and of course turkey. Kiwanis members and volunteers cooked over 525 lbs. of turkey at the Del Norte Elementary school the day before. Rainbow Grocery in South Fork pitched in too by providing everything for the dinner at a discounted price.
At the end of the day over 210 people were served meals with most leaving with leftovers and wide smiles on their faces.
The attendance numbers were not as high as in the initial years but today many churches and local nonprofits have followed suit and are putting on Thanksgiving Day Dinners in the Valley too. Plus, the winter storm warning did not help.  
But one thing is for sure, everyone who wanted a meal received one and no one was sitting at home alone with their dog eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Thanksgiving Day.

Trey Spaulding is an award-winning journalist who has worked as publisher of both daily and weekly newspapers and as general manager of broadcast television stations.


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