The first Thanksgiving in the Plymouth Bay colony wasn’t families in their individual cabins. It was a feast of 53 Englishmen and around 90 Wampanoags dining together as a community.
Now institutionalized as the country’s busiest national holiday almost 400 years later, Thanksgiving is more than a celebration of friends and family. It’s an opportunity to welcome in both our neighbors and passing strangers to share food, stories and recipes.
Local restaurants, such as Coffee Pot Restaurant in Sedona and Georgie’s Café in Cottonwood, host an annual free community meal, as do many local nonprofits. Several of my friends regularly volunteer on the line at the Sedona Elks Lodge, choosing to give back to their community by serving mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy and vegetables.
Without any nearby family, I have attended several of these free dinners over the years to enjoy being around my friends and neighbors and avoiding the hassle of cooking.
Just one example of the philanthropic efforts the Verde Valley is Coffee Pot Restaurant: Owners Emile and Patricia Daher, their family, the restaurant’s staff and even the employees’ children give back to a community that supports them during the rest of the year. Local government officials volunteer to serve and often bring items for the youngest servers, like the plastic fire helmets provided by the Sedona and Verde Valley fire districts’ fire chiefs who worked alongside them. Donations go to the local food bank.
The busy restaurant was filled with people from all walks of life, ages, economic backgrounds, social strata and Sedona’s cliques, which all too often rarely interact. Local leaders sat next to retirees, working families, artists, musicians, bartenders, business owners and teachers all enjoying a big plate of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, cornbread, cranberries and green beans. As we dug in, we discussed local news, local politics and a little bit of gossip with the strangers, friends, coworkers and colleagues we sat next to or ran into over the course of the meal.
Events like these go a long way to remind us that our community is a lot smaller and closer knit than we often think, and we thank those who host, sponsor, serve and attend these dinners.
We all enjoy a hearty meal, good conversation and feeling part of a group doing good works for our community. The goal is to keep that feeling not only through the holidays but all year long and until next Thanksgiving.
So whether you go out locally, stay in, volunteer to serve, travel to family or have family visit you, remember that the dinner isn’t about the food, it’s about being a part of a sincerely thankful community.
