HOT PURSUIT

It was by far the largest turkey gathering in Steele County.

In preparation for the annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner in Owatonna, a group of volunteers gathered in the kitchen at the VFW Club on Tuesday morning. Their mission was no small task—to prepare 40 turkeys for the big Thanksgiving Day feast.

From cooking the turkeys to transferring them over to cutting boards to chopping them up and pouring juices over the freshly cooked meat, it took the work of about a dozen volunteers to prepare 600 pounds of turkey. It was all spearheaded by Dean Schuette, Marlene Fiksdal and Mary Boettger, who took over the reigns from Michael Meyer a few years ago. Prior to Meyer, Mike and Trudy Pierce had coordinated the dinner for nearly two decades.

Schuette estimates that nearly 1,100 people took advantage of the free turkey meal on Thanksgiving. That total includes about half take out deliveries and the other half sit down at the VFW.

“We got slammed with customers, which is a good problem,” said Schuette, noting there is no charge for the meal, though freewill donations are accepted. “They were coming fast and furious for a while.”

Asked if they had enough turkey, Schuette replied: “We did, just barely.” He said some of the volunteers didn’t get much turkey to eat because they ran out.

The meal has become a holiday staple in Owatonna over the past 32 years. It moved to the VFW after outgrowing the Knights of Columbus Hall where it had been for about 10 years.

What’s remarkable is that about 150 volunteers, including all ages from college students to senior citizens, pulled together to make the meal happen. Volunteers are needed for the prep work prior to the meal, serving the meal and mostly to deliver the carryout meals around the area.

“We had a tremendous amount of volunteers,” Schuette said. In fact, he said, it becomes hard to find a task for all of them.

For Schuette, giving up his Thanksgiving to coordinate the dinner has become a new tradition within the past six years. He decided to help out after his children grew up and moved on and he retired.

But that's not all for Schuette.

“I’ve always had a desire to give back to the community,” he said. Schuette rattled off several organizations he volunteers with, including Knights of Columbus, Claremont Area Chamber, Steele County Exchange Club and Allied Charities of Minnesota.

And as if Thanksgiving wasn’t enough, the volunteers will be back at it again in three weeks for another community meal on Christmas Day. Schuette said the Christmas meal is usually a little smaller with about 800 people attending.

Schuette said there are two primary reasons people come to the meals. Some have no money to put together a meal while others simply have nowhere to go and want the company of other people.

“We get all ages and all walks of life,” he said, noting it tends to be more elderly people that come out.

The reward for volunteers like Schuette is simple.

“I hope we put a smile on their face for the holidays,” he said. “Hopefully we brighten their day and make sure they have a happy holiday.”

It’s heartwarming to see that there are volunteers in this community who care enough to go in hot pursuit of bringing joy into other people’s lives.