VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) — Thanksgiving for many individuals means a special time of the year for family gatherings and an elaborate feast; however, it can be a lonely holiday for others.
While many community members are preparing to host a family meal, a few are looking to share with a wider community.
Rebecca Colvin, co-owner of Heath’s Market in Oil City, is gearing up for a very special holiday this year. Heath’s Market will be hosting a free Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day, offering “turkey and all the fixings” to anyone who would like to join them from noon to 3:00 p.m.
“I can’t even explain how this community has supported us in every way, shopping here at our store, helping us these last two years,” Colvin told exploreVenango.com.
“We just want to give back because we’re so thankful for this community.”
According to Colvin, the store will not be open for sales on Thanksgiving Day, the the door will be open beginning at noon for anyone who would like to join them for their special meal.
“We’re pretty excited, and we hope a lot of people show up,” Colvin said.
She noted many of their family members will be joining them and helping out for the meal.
According to Colvin, the meal is completely free, and while they aren’t requiring anything, for those who have asked, they have stated they will have a box for anyone who wants to bring a canned or boxed food item to donate to a good cause. Those items will then be donated to Community Services of Venango County, Inc.
“We’re not asking people to bring things, but if they’d like to donate, it would be wonderful.”
Colvin said while they’re waiting to see how this year’s dinner goes, they may likely consider doing it again next year, or even possibly turning it into an annual event.
While Heath’s Market’s Thanksgiving Dinner is the newest event in the area, there are also several others that have been going on for a number of years.
According to Captain Michele Watt of the Franklin Salvation Army, they will be holding their annual Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving Day, from 11:30 a.m.
While having a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving has been a long-running tradition for the Salvation Army in the region, it wasn’t moved to the actual day of Thanksgiving until three years ago, according to Watt.
“I think it’s necessary to do it on Thanksgiving,” Watt said.
“We used to serve more people when we had it on a Tuesday, but to me that’s just another meal. It’s not a holiday meal if you don’t have it on the holiday.”
According to Watt, the Franklin and Oil City Salvation Army locations work together on the cooking of the food, though the Oil City location has their Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday.
“It all goes pretty smooth, and each year we get a few more people.”
Major Laura Duesenberry of the Oil City Salvation Army noted they have their meal on Wednesday, beginning at noon, both because it is one of their regular soup kitchen days, and because there are some churches in the Oil City area who have meals on Thanksgiving Day.
One other difference between the two is that Franklin provides take-out as well as delivered meals for the elderly in some of the tower housing locations, while Oil City’s meal is dine-in only.
While both groups have a number of volunteers involved in the efforts, and Oil city also has some paid staff, Duesenberry also noted they are always welcome more help.
“We can always use more volunteers, especially for the end times for clean-up.”
In neighboring Clarion County, the tradition of a free Community Thanksgiving Dinner will continue this year on November 28, at the Immaculate Conception Parish Event Center on Main Street, Clarion. The Community Thanksgiving Dinner is free and open to anyone who would like to attend.