800 diners and volunteers share turkey, pie and sense of community

At what looked like choreographed intervals, volunteers replenished a long table at Everett’s Restaurant & Lounge with big aluminum trays brimming with turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce.

“And lots of gravy,” said diner Bryan Bliss of Columbia. “You can’t forget the gravy.”

It was your traditional Thanksgiving dinner — if your traditional Thanksgiving dinner feeds about 800 people. About 300 of them would be served at home by the Salvation Army and Meals on Wheels.

“It’s really a community dinner,” said the Salvation Army’s Maj. Violet Windham.

The meal ­was prepared for the community, by the community — one of three, along with First Ward Councilwoman Almeta Crayton’s gathering at Lou’s Lounge and a third at St. Francis House. For the Salvation Army meal, Stephens College staff roasted 35 turkeys donated by Gerbes, Schnuck’s and private donors; Sysco Foods provided the trimmings; and volunteers from churches and elsewhere gave the desserts.

The desserts covered the entire bar at Everett’s, with maybe just that much more in the kitchen’s walk-in freezer, said volunteer Eric Hill. Bliss tried two slices of pie: pumpkin and sugar-free key lime.

“I’m thankful that I have my health today, and it’s such a nice day,” Bliss said. “I’m also thankful for all this food.”

Across the room, Hill, former kitchen manager at Everett’s, bounded between the kitchen and the dining room, where the line of people waiting to eat was so long it snaked out the front door and into the sunny, 60-degree day. Coming in and out of the back door in the kitchen were drivers waiting to hand-deliver meals to people unable to attend, some of whom had ordered a month in advance.

Hill, who has been involved in the Salvation Army/Everett’s dinner for many years, said that in his opinion, community response was up this Thanksgiving, both in people coming to eat and people doing the serving. “The last few years have been down,” he said. “This year, we’re doing well.”

Even after the dinner began at 11 a.m., volunteers who hadn’t signed up were walking in, hoping to help. “We have so many volunteers that some people are looking for things to do,” Hill said.

One of the many servers was Jacqui Rundiks, whose job was to spoon the jiggly cranberry sauce onto passing plates. A nurse, Rundiks volunteered several years ago and returned this year, bringing her neighbors to lend a hand. After the Salvation Army dinner, she would have a Thanksgiving meal with family and friends.

“I have a bunch of little Indians and pilgrims coming to my house later,” Rundiks said.

Hill said he was at the first Salvation Army-sponsored turkey dinner at Everett’s nearly 18 years ago; before that, the dinner was held at the Salvation Army. Hill said that last week his wife asked him what he’d be doing for this Thanksgiving and he replied as he has so many times before: “What do I do every year?”

He acknowledged that he missed his family — his wife is in Moberly with her family — but said he’s happy to help in the community. “I’ve seen people I haven’t seen in a year,” Hill said. “It’s just a big family.”

The Salvation Army planned to distribute leftovers to Harbor House and other charities, he said.

Although the dinner began to help the homeless and less fortunate on the holiday, the tradition has expanded to include the wider community.

“Everybody always seems happy,” Hill said. “It’s great to see so many people from different backgrounds having a good time together.”