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Shannon Standing Chief, 6, licks on her fork Thursday after eating a healthy helping of turkey dressing during the Community Thanksgiving Dinner at St. Jude Parish Center. Shannon and her family were among several hundred who attended the annual event.
An attendee carries her plate through the Community Thanksgiving serving line staffed by, from left, partially hidden Steve Wiles, Montana State University-Northern basketball players Katie Ferreter and Peyton Filius, and Martha and Scott Warren.
People came from all walks of life to volunteer at the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
Senior citizens were there, as were the Montana State University-Northern Lights and Skylights basketball teams. Boy Scouts working on their badges and 4-H members were on hand.
A young man who had to perform community service before returning to Montana Youth Challenge Academy in Dillon worked for a while.
Local ministers pitched in, as did volunteers from Havre parishes.
Families, students and others took part. It was a cross-section of Havre,.
It was heartening for Debi Rhines, the chair of the event, to see.
"The hardest part during some of the day was finding work for everyone who wanted to volunteer," she said.
"It's something we've always wanted to do," said Martha Warren as she dished out dressing to people in the serving line at St. Jude Parish Center next to her husband, Scott Warren, who was serving turkey. "This year we decided to do it."
"It's just something we do for the community," said Skylight Peyton Filius.
Connie Chapman had one of the less glamorous jobs. She was washing pots and pans used to cook the food.
She's been volunteering for the Thanksgiving meal for nearly all of the 17 years she and her husband, John, have been in town.
She has experience in doing this kind of work. Before moving to Havre, she worked in school food service - at high school, middle school and elementary schools.
And she is the treasurer of Feed My Sheep Soup Kitchen, which provides food to people at noontime Monday through Saturday. She's volunteered at the kitchen as well.
As of 1 p.m., Rhines said, 128 people had volunteered in one form or another.
"We couldn't do it without the volunteers," she said.
A record 360 people had food delivered to their homes, Organizers urge people to come in join in the community gathering, said Peter Bruni, the head cook for several years, but for people who are shut-ins, volunteers deliver food in the morning.
Throughout the morning and afternoon, there was a robust crowd of people coming into the parish center.
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