By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
The annual Thanksgiving feast, prepared by the staff at the Mesquite Senior Center, was held on Wednesday November 23. All residents from the Virgin Valley were invited to enjoy the meal together. More than 1300 people were served.
The halls at the senior center and the two dining rooms were decked out with holiday cheer due to the amazing creativity of the Senior Center staff. There was giant snowman made of painted tin cans, wow! The decorations were enough to put anyone in a festive mood.
The traditional sit-down turkey dinner, with all the trimmings, was served from 11 am to 3 pm on Wednesday. Mesquite Mayor Al Litman and his wife Phyllis was there to greet each of the arriving guest.
The first people through the door for the past eleven years have been Dena and Nick Alfonsetti. Nick said that he and Dena enjoy the comradery of this annual event as well as the food.
The meal was served by local volunteers who come to eat and take their time to serve others. At different times throughout the afternoon, city staff members and City Council members were there serving the food. In addition, many local residents volunteered to pitch in with the big job as well.
Making sure no one was left out, there was even a drive-thru service from 10 to 10:45 am. Traditional turkey dinners to-go were brought outside by volunteers to hand through car windows. This looked like a huge success. At 10:30 the line of cars was backed up to Old Mill Road. The meals were coming out very efficiently, but the demand was high.
Mesquite resident Doris Pattee was there with her snowbird friend Pete Pasquali.
“It is amazing what they do here,” said Pattee. “I have been to many senior centers all around the country and Mesquite is the best by far.”
Pasquali comes from Coleville Utah and has been attending the local Thanksgiving Dinner event for the past eleven years. In fact, it was at the dinner is where he met Doris.
“This is the eleventh year for this wonderful event,” said Mayor Al Litman. “The staff and the Senior Center really outdid themselves this year with their decorations.”
The day was also the 85th birthday for Jo Anne Smith, Exercise Instructor at the Senior Center. The staff commemorated it with the Happy Birthday Song. Smith teaches many classes at the center and is usually there to help out.
Kim & Tracy Huntington are 12-year snowbirds to Mesquite from Delta, Utah. They told The Progress that they had no family coming to visit this year. So they came to this Community Thanksgiving Dinner to be with others during the holiday. They thought that the food at the center is great and said that they take part in the other activities that the senior center has to offer as well. Their favorites are bingo and the piano music at lunch time.
