Hollister
– Local seniors began their Thanksgiving celebrations a little
early Thursday at the annual senior Thanksgiving lunch.
”
We’ve come here every year for eight years, I guess,
”
said Pilar Matas, sitting at a table with friends at the Vet’s
Hall.
”
You can’t find better food or company.
Hollister – Local seniors began their Thanksgiving celebrations a little early Thursday at the annual senior Thanksgiving lunch.
“We’ve come here every year for eight years, I guess,” said Pilar Matas, sitting at a table with friends at the Vet’s Hall. “You can’t find better food or company.
The lunch, sponsored by Jovenes De Antaño, has been a tradition in San Benito County for more than 30 years, Executive Director Pauline Valdivia said.
“We started out in the community center,” she said. “But it’s grown and grown every year. Now we feed around 250 people.”
For the last seven or eight years the meal has been co-sponsored by the Top Hatters motorcycle club, who help set up and send each senior home with a small turkey for the big day next week.
“My mom’s here, my sister, my whole family really,” said Marcello Orta, vice president of the local Top Hatters chapter. “We come here every year and we have a really good time.”
Seniors were treated to roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and other traditional dishes, as well as plenty of pumpkin pie for dessert.
“We work with an RD (registered dietitian),” Valdivia said. “So everything we serve is nutritious, as well.”
For many of the diners who come to the luncheon year after year, it’s a chance to mingle with friends in a festive atmosphere. For others, this lunch is essentially their Thanksgiving celebration.
“A lot of these folks have no one, no family, but at least here they can have a hot meal and be with people,” Valdivia said. “It’s a reason for them to get up in the morning.”
The event relies on the efforts of dozens of volunteers, who start at 7am to begin cooking and decorating and work well into the afternoon serving food and cleaning up. Top Hatters and Senior Center volunteers work side by side with helpers sent from Milegard Windows and Hope Services, an organization that works with mentally disabled adults.
“It’s a real community event,” said Sadie Hernandez, who has been volunteering at the lunch for 10 years. “Everybody works together to make it happen and we all have a good time.”
Many of the diners said the event made them feel valued by the larger community.
“It’s nice to see that there are people who haven’t forgot about us,” Irene Martinez said. “We’re able to just enjoy ourselves here and the Top Hatters are wonderful.”
For their part, volunteers seemed just as happy to be at the dinner as the seniors they served.
“One day we’re going to be at this point in our lives, too, and we’ll want somebody who will care about us and do things for us,” Orta said. “It’s only right that we should help these people out now.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
