When the West River Health Services Auxiliary disbanded after 70 years this past summer, the WRHS Foundation decided it could not let their tradition of the Annual “Community Turkey Luncheon” die. After all, it had been going strong since 1977, starting at the Hettinger Eagles Club. That’s 42 straight years! People look forward to this amazing homemade lunch every year, the first Thursday of November, at the Hettinger Lutheran Church. Did you know that longtime WRHS Auxiliary member, Carolyn VanWyk, had the original fundraising idea for the Auxiliary to serve a turkey lunch with homemade slices of pie before Thanksgiving? And now her son, Cory, continues to participate in his mom’s memory, with this community tradition.
Fast forward to 2019 -- So the WRHS Foundation held the 43rd Annual “Community Turkey Luncheon” this past Thursday, November 7th, from 11am-1pm, at the Hettinger Lutheran Church basement. Most everything stayed the same – 1) same location, 2) same date, 3) same time, 4) same amazing menu of white or dark turkey, Suzann Hanson’s sensational gravy from scratch, tasty stuffing, varieties of pies from numerous volunteer bakers throughout the area, cranberries, your choice of white or wheat bread. 5) almost the same people making it all happen (with a few newbies), decorating and setting up the church basement (Cindy Olson, Talia Dustman, Lisa Briggs, Mary Krein, Emily Kling and Marinela Zialcita); making the cranberry to-go cups (Mary Krein, Carmen Strid and Jill Sailer); cutting the turkeys (Al & Kaye McIntyre, Sheri Uecker, Marinela Zialcita and Ray Otteson); taking orders on the phone (Barb West); creating the homemade gravy (Suzann Hanson); mixing the stuffing (Jennifer Seamands and Eve Safratowich, with Mary Whitmer taste-testing in heaven); making coffee and stirring stuffing (Erika Pagel); cutting the pies (Barb West, Eva Knutson, Kaylene Erlenbusch, Cindy Ham, Karen Nelson, Denise Turner, Dana Andress and Tera Fried); greeting guest at the door (Kim Schalesky); preparing the takeout orders (Christi Schmitz, Phyllis Andress, Barb Luger, Erin Timm and Cindy Lien); serving the meal (Matt Shahan, Dawn Bunn, Judy Jung, Stacy Chadwick, Sarah Dschaak, Dr. Kristy, Dr, Joyce, Cody Jorgenson, Charlie Reisenauer, Charis Campbell, Doug Peterson and Kathy Vliem); waiting tables (Talia Dustman, Renee Miller, Cindy Olson and Ted Uecker); delivering the takeout orders (Howard Nelson, Bob Kudrna, Dennis Knutson, and Wayne Koltes); and cleaning up (Jezzele Salazar, Desi Mollman, Dr. Joyce, Dr. Kristy, Grace Meier, Barb West, Cindy Olson and Erika Pagel). It takes a large part of our local village to make this event happen!
The WRHS Foundation did institute a few new wrinkles: 1) we switched to a goodwill donation instead of a flat fee for the turkey lunches, and 2) we’re placing the net funds toward our WRHS Foundation Scholarship Program, with a significant gift to the Adams County Food Pantry.
What a crowd! 247 takeout orders, plus 59 pick-up and takeout orders – or a total of 306 takeout orders. Plus about 200 sit-down orders – for a GRAND TOTAL of 506 turkey lunches served! 87 pies – all varieties, with every single slice served. Not one remaining! All of the turkey was gone by 12:15pm! We contacted Kennedy’s Fresh Foods and they brought all the roasted chicken they could muster. We certainly are sorry to those last few who received chicken instead of turkey. But we really thought 16 turkeys would be enough, as it was last year. We’ll have more turkeys in 2020!
No matter, being out of turkey, pie, and gravy was a terrific problem to have. We brought in over $6,500 in goodwill donations (and some checks are still coming in the mail from businesses who wanted to pay for their employee’s turkey lunches!). With expenses being tabulated, it appears that we will have about $5,000 in net funds raised. With a $750 gift to the Adams County Food Pantry for turkeys and hams for 35 families to enjoy Thanksgiving, we should have about $4,000+ for our WRHS Foundation Scholarship Fund. Wow! THANK YOU Hettinger area. You have outdone yourselves once again.
And “Thank You” to the Hettinger Lutheran Church, Kennedy’s Fresh Foods, KNDC, Adams County Record, and all of the hungry citizens of our area. We appreciate your unending support of our healthcare system. TOGETHER we can continue to improve our top-notch healthcare “close to home.”
Next up for the WRHS Foundation is their FREE “Leaving a Legacy” Seminar on Wednesday, November 20th, 6:30pm, at the NDSU Research & Extension Center. This seminar is an introduction to future financial planning and thinking about what happens to our assets when we are gone. The first ten to pre-register receive FREE Hettinger Theater movie tickets! Call Ted Uecker at 701-567-3666 to pre-register. We will be serving homemade pie and refreshments. Onward!
By Ted Uecker, WRHS Foundation