Views of the Neighborhood – Thanksgiving Feast

~ John W. Howell

A group of volunteers from Kyle, Texas decided they would come down to Port Aransas and set up a Thanksgiving dinner as a way to help.  The reason for doing so, as explained by Deborah the organizer, “Our hearts are with Port Aransas.” So she began to organize a Thanksgiving dinner for all Port Aransas residents. She made a point in telling me that she never asked for volunteers. All her help came from those who wanted to be a part of something beautiful. All the volunteers live in the greater Austin area which is a three and one half hour drive to Port Aransas.

Port Aransas Feast

As you enter the cafeteria there is a place to fill out a name tag. This one idea had everyone feeling that they knew everyone else.

Here are some folks beginning to arrive.

More arrivals

There was ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, and corn. Notice the smiles of the volunteers

Of course a roll too.

The tables were set with festive decorations.

There were pies, cookies, and cakes for dessert along with a big pot of coffee.

This is the wonderful family from Kyle that took it upon themselves to reach out with full hearts and share the joy of Thanksgiving with a town in need. Many thanks to you all.

This is a shot of the cafeteria from the outside.

I wanted to put in a photo of the H. G. Olsen Elementary School which is right next door to the cafeteria to give you an idea of how much planning it must have taken to secure a venue for the Thanksgiving event.

OES

Here are a few of the temporary buildings now known as Olsen Elementary School South Campus.

As a footnote to this story, I was at the hardware store after taking the photos. While I was there two meals from the Thanksgiving event were delivered to the two employees working. Both were overwhelmed by the generosity of the folks from Kyle Texas.

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Published by John W. Howell

I have been working in business for over forty years and now have the time to work in special areas of interest. My passion has always been to create compelling stories of fiction. I have authored six novels and am working on my Seventh. The first novel is still in manuscript form and being utilized as a door stop in the laundry room. The second is a contemporary fiction novel of 89,000 words and is complete and I am currently seeking a publisher. I also write poetry but have not had the guts to share any with anyone. The one time I read a piece to a person their only comment was, “it doesn’t rhyme.” I will continue to write and hopefully my blog, Fiction Favorites at www.johnwhowell.com will provide some entertainment and an interesting thought or two. I live in the Austin area with my wife Molly and an assortment of loving pets.

68 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Thanksgiving Feast”

  1. Beautiful! The joy in the faces of the Kyle folks says it all. Love is given and returned multiplied.This is a true Thanksgiving feast. Thank you, John, for this reminder and blessing. 🙂

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  3. It is terrific to see people joining together to help those that are in hard times due to no fault of their own. Dinners like this here are unfortunately abused by people looking to get something for nothing. Thank you for showing this this and Happy Thanksgiving!!

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    1. We always have the something for nothing types, GP. We see them every day here. I can only imagine that Karma will catch them in the end. What was so heartwarming about these folks was even if you were a something for nothing person, you were still welcome. Thanks GP.

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      1. You stay warm too! Autumn lasted about five minutes here (straight from too hot to too cold). Winter paid no attention to the calendar — it’s already here. o_O. Here’s to hot mulled wine… Okay a little while from now. 😉

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  17. Things like this reinforce the fact that there is something very good and decent within the human spirit even though you wouldn’t always know it from watching and reading the news of the day. Happy Thanksgiving, John!

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    1. Thank you, Ron. Happy Thanksgiving to you. I think it is possible to look at the positive examples of human behavior if only to offset what is perceived to be negative. 🙂

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  18. What a wonderful Feel Good event … for the volunteers as well as for the residents! Thank you, John, for spotlighting it. Bet there were some good friendships made over the course of this one!

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  19. What an inspiring event and such kind and loving people. Events like this fortify my belief that there are many genuinely good-hearted people out there, despite all the hate we hear about on a daily basis. Thanks for this wonderful post, John. ❤ xx

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  20. This was wonderful, John. It restores my faith in humanity and that love will always overcome hate. You must have been so proud to be part of this. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  24. It seems it was “something beautiful!” I wonder if many of those that volunteered to help Port A had visited before and fell in love with its charm or just felt the need to help a fellow town in need? Either way their generosity is amazing. You have done your part to spotlight the many volunteers!

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