The "park" I live in* hosts a community Thanksgiving dinner every year. The turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy, bread and butter, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee are provided by the hui with the kitchen staffed by volunteers from the park. A small per-person fee is charged and salads and side dishes are brought by participants as potluck. Reservations open in October and sell out fast. Full tables can be reserved for families and guests, small groups and singles share tables. People provide their own place settings and often bring a potluck dish to share as well as something special just for their table (including beer and wine). Some groups arrive early to decorate their table(s). Each table is numbered and then numbers drawn for position going through the food lines. Local groups provide entertainment such as slack-key guitar, hula, ukulele. Since I will be arriving just a week or two before Thanksgiving with all my household goods trailing a month or more behind, I was just wondering if there was any such community gathering in Sun City where it seems likely there would be a goodly number of singles alone on holidays? *Hawaiian Paradise Park, huge area 4x4 miles square, larger than the city of Hilo, 8,800 1-acre lots, only about 1/3 occupied, largely native jungle, lava cinder roads, few services, 20 miles from town.
I think a couple churches have Thanksgiving meals. I'll watch newspaper for info. Since your household items won't arrive with you, consider going to Sunshine Services for a rollaway bed. Sunshine Services http://sunshineservice.org/welcome/ There are many thrift stores in SC, and a Salvation Army, and Goodwill close by. There are 4 "dollar " stores in SC - (Dollar Tree (2), Family Dollar, and Dollar General - plus a 99 cent store close by.
Thanks, Peg. Don't worry about the churches. I follow a strict oil-free WFPB diet that pretty much precludes eating out but thought if there was a community dinner I might show up and meet some SC neighbors. I can always just grab a glass of sparkling mineral water and schmooze a little. Failing that there are so many clubs I want to join that meeting neighbors is gonna happen no matter what, just take a day or two longer. As for the bed, I have an inflatable picked out that I'll have shipped to a friend in Peoria who can deliver it to my house long before I get there, then afterwards it can be stored away for company visits. I will keep Sunshine Services in mind, though. Amazing what you discover you really need when you're camping out furnitureless for a month. Can't wait to get my hands on the various thrift/discount stores, love them and there are none here, just the recycle tent at the dump. In fact, I have so many businesses starred on my SC map that I may be tied up for weeks just shopping, didn't realize how much I missed variety and choice!
As you get to know me, you’ll find that asking me a simple question often results in a novel and TMI. WFPB is whole-food, plant-based, trendy new name for vegan. Oil-free is, well ... oil-free. I became vegetarian then vegan back in the late 70s, read Pritikin, added low-fat to vegan regimen. Then there was Ornish, and Esselstyn, Caldwell with oil-free, and now PD or Protective Diet which is really just Esselstyn with a few more restrictions such as no sugar, no nuts, no food additives or preservatives. I follow this lifestyle for two reasons, number one is the huge amount of research showing this way of eating reduces inflammation, prevents or reverses heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and most chronic ailments suffered by people eating SAD (Standard American Diet), and number two is Susie. Susie is my BFF from high school, two years younger than I (she’ll be 67 next month, I’ll be 69 in November). She has smoked (me too but I quit in '77), eaten, and drunk any and everything with no regard to what it might do to her health, still does. We started out with similar health, had similar surgeries, then I went my way and she hers lifestyle-wise. Now she is disabled, has been for 10+ years, due to heart disease with triple bypass, poorly controlled diabetes on insulin, kidney failure, COPD on oxygen (still smoking), daily opiates for neuropathic foot pain, has had multiple hospitalizations the past few years, has had to give up everything she loved to do, lives a life reduced to going from bed to chair and back, sleeping in both, and TV when awake. I, on the other hand (knock wood) although older and slower, am still plugging along, no chronic disease, no hospitalizations other than my detached retina, and the only difference is what we eat and those damned cigarettes. Come to think of it, I have a number three, Rick. Rick and I were friends from the mid-60s until he died in 2012 of pancreatic cancer. Rick loved meat, especially grilled or smoked. Before he got sick he owned several BBQ grills and, I think, five smokers, always had at least one going. He did try WFPB a couple times but eventually went back to meat. He paid a hell of a price for his food choices. I miss him. Anyway, since there’s just me, I want to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible, thus my strict adherence to OF/WFPB. Another part of staying healthy is moving to SC. I think I’ve grown depressed and sad and exhausted living the pioneer life in isolation here in the jungle, especially since Hurricane Iselle a year ago August and all the damage that caused. Ten years ago it was challenging and fun, now I’m just tired and lonesome. Will take me a little while to transition to living a normal life in a normal world again but looking forward to that. And, as I said before, TMI. My mother used to say that I just blather out my whole life story to anyone who will listen, and I guess she was right, don’t seem to be able to help myself once I get going. At least you’ll have a good idea who’s moving into your neighborhood. Stopping now, apologies.
I seem to think that there is a need to make reservations for the dinner at Valley View Food Bank. I can also be corrected....
This is the first year in memory that I don't have to host the family Thanksgiving dinner. I think we'll probably go with friends to the local church for the big meal. I'll also roast a turkey because there's nothing better than having that carcass to enjoy leftovers for a few days.
Thank you. I'll bet they get a crowd. Is there a charge or is it free and are reservations needed? I think I will just get together with a neighbor.
Beneville on Bell in Surprise is having a Thanksgiving dinner. Don't know any details except that it is at 12.
