Blaine’s annual Thanksgiving dinner cancelled

By Stefanie Donahue

A fixture of the community for nearly two decades – Blaine’s annual Thanksgiving dinner hosted at the Blaine Senior Center has been cancelled, leaving the hundreds of people who attended every year with nowhere to go.

“Every year has taken more and more out of me and my family,” said David Van Duisen, who has organized the dinner with his wife Lisa Carr-Van Duisen for the past eight years. He stepped down from the role earlier this year due to the physical toll it was taking and hoped that someone would take his place. Unfortunately, no one did.

The Sons of the American Legion Squadron 86, a program of Blaine American Legion Post 86, began hosting the dinner in 2000, said Van Duisen, who is no longer a member of Post 86. It was hosted at the Blaine Senior Center and offered the public a free meal with company on Thanksgiving Day.

To raise money for the dinner, volunteers from the squadron manned a hot dog and hamburger stand outside of the H Street police station during Blaine’s old fashioned Fourth of July celebration.

In recent years, an average of 85 people from the squadron and the community came forward to help host the dinner, including cooks who spent long hours preparing a combined 60 large turkeys and hams and 650 pounds of potatoes, among other food items, some of which were donated by local businesses.

“It wasn’t just buy it from the store, unpackage it and cook it,” Van Duisen said. “We cooked all around the clock.”

Van Duisen estimated that more than 800 people were served at the dinner in 2017 and said that when he first got involved, an estimated 150 people attended.

Last year, at least 50 people also received dinner deliveries straight to their home with assistance from Meals on Wheels and More, Van Duisen said.

“I live in Blaine and this is a community that really comes together,” he said. Choosing to step down without an individual or group willing to step up to organize the dinner this year, “wasn’t an easy decision,” he said.

American Legion Post 86 commander Dennis Winn also felt remorse over the Thanksgiving dinner being cancelled. He said a lack of volunteers and resources led the Post 86 board of directors to vote against organizing the dinner

“It was really hard for me because I knew how much effort had been put into it,” he said. “When you don’t have the people or the resources, you just can’t do it.”

Winn was appointed as commander in July and has been a member of Post 86 for the past 15 years. For a variety of reasons, he said, membership has dropped tremendously over the past two years, but it’s starting to build back up.

“If we can get people that are interested” in organizing the dinner next year “we would be interested,” he said. “We enjoy helping our senior citizens and doing things for the community.” He added, “We all regret not being able to do it. It was a hard decision.”

For now, community leaders are encouraging the public to open their doors to those in need this Thanksgiving.

“With the legion not able to do the wonderful annual meal they provided at the senior center, many will have no place or means to celebrate,” wrote Community Assistance Program (CAP) executive director Dan DeMent on Facebook. “We at CAP and the Blaine Food Bank are doing what we can to help a few more people that fit our programs.”

Each year, CAP provides ready-to-cook turkey dinners to low-income families in the community. Participation is now closed and distribution will take place between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 20 at the Cost Cuter Shopping Center on H Street, Unit 280.

“I think a lot of folks attended that dinner because of preparation constraints and for community, which we cannot help with,” DeMent said. “Some will make other arrangements, some will make do, but I’m sure some would love to be invited to join you. So who might you invite? Do you know neighbors who live alone? People new to the area? Away from family? Maybe even someone you don’t know?”