TAMMY COAKLEY/FOR THE EXPRESS
Shown are some of the volunteers of Great Island Church who helped with preparing, boxing up and delivering the Thanksgiving Day meals. Standing, left to right, Steve and Ronda Rhinehart and Aine and Jeremy Rossman. Sitting are Brenda Rossman, Mechelle Morris and Ella Rossman.
Tammy Coakley/For the Express
Steve and Ronda Rhinehart, a married couple who helped prepare and serve meals for over 40 years, pose for a photo together.
Congregation volunteers of the Great Island Presbyterian Church in Lock Haven worked together to provide 205 take-out meals on Thanksgiving Day.
Beginning on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, volunteers arrived to get the kitchen in order and to begin to prepare the foods for Thanksgiving Day. Others helped on Thursday to cook, box up the meals and make the deliveries.
Consisting of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, corn and cranberry sauce, each bountiful meal was finished with a piece of pie or cake for dessert.
According to Steve Rhinehart, “Getting enough turkey for the 205 meals meant roasting 10 turkeys, but I like doing it. We have good helpers every year. I think there were probably about 15 or so that helped with the meal in some way this year,” Rhinehart said.
The take-out meals were offered from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and were free to those requesting them.
Rhinehart and his wife, Ronda, wearing matching aprons, have helped prepare and serve the annual meal for more than 40 years now. “We’re glad we can be a part of this each year. We were married in this church more than 50 years ago and raised our three children here. The whole family, including eight grandkids, were here to help with this year’s meal,” Ronda said.
The church has a special fund set aside each year to cover the costs of providing the Thanksgiving Day dinner, and items are also donated by church members.
The Rossman family, Jeremy and Brenda, along with their daughters, Aine and Ella, have volunteered at the church on Thanksgiving Day for the last three years. Brenda, who serves as the church secretary, was a cheerful greeter to those coming to retrieve the take-out meals on Thursday.
