Yellow Pages
ALGER — Steam rose and meat juices ran across the cutting board as Kathy MacMillan carved thick slices of turkey for the community Thanksgiving dinner.
MacMillan was slicing one of the three turkeys offered up Saturday along with a ham at the Alger Community Center. Mashed potatoes, stuffing and other side dishes brought by community members completed the potluck dinner.
The organizers — the community center’s Alger Improvement Club, the Alger Community Church and the Secret Sisters, a group of 16 Alger women ranging in age from their early 20s to their early 70s — were trying to do more than simply feed people.
“Our goal is to get the community involved,” MacMillan said. “This is the reason why we do things.”
Donna Spencer, an Alger resident and one of the organizers, was in charge of creating a truly juicy turkey.
“All I do is just put salt and pepper and butter on the outside and a whole onion and celery on the inside,” Spencer said. “I baste it every half hour.”
About 40 people dug into helpings of turkey and the fixings shortly after the meal was served. Organizers said that they expected more people later in the afternoon and early evening once people left jobs for the day or other commitments.
Organizers delivered plates to people working at the Alger Bar and Grill and Alger Food Mart who wouldn’t be off work in time for the meal.
Anette Witter, one of the Secret Sisters and a trustee of the community center, said that Betsy Lozar, a church member, had approached her in October to suggest that the church combine efforts with other Alger groups to offer a communitywide Thanksgiving.
Working together would get more people to come to the dinner and would involve more people, said Witter, whose husband Keith is president of the center’s improvement club. Anette Witter brought the idea to the club and the sisters.
“It’s a small community, but sometimes it’s hard to meet people,” Anette Witter said.
“We’re pretty spread out,” fellow sister Dawn Thomas added.
The dinner was held Saturday because too many people had plans on Thursday and too many had work on Friday, Lozar said. Before the meal was served, Thomas spoke, saying she was proud of the community. Minister Rich DeRuiter offered a prayer.
And Spencer’s turkey seemed to be a big hit with many of those attending. Marshall Corbell and his roommate were the first to go back for seconds.
“That’s the kind of guy I am, meat and potatoes,” said Corbell, 18, scooping up turkey and mashed potatoes.
Reminded of the desserts lined up on a table, he changed his tune: “It’s all about the pie, the pumpkin pie.”
Read more local news in the Skagit Valley Herald and the Anacortes American, or read it online in the E-edition
