A volunteer brings meals out to a waiting car during the 2020 Johnson County Thanksgiving Banquet. This year’s Thanksgiving celebration will again be drive-through only, as people will be able to have meals brought to their car from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
FILE PHOTO
More than 1,500 local residents will be served turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and other traditional fixings for free this Thanksgiving Day.
But instead of sitting down together, they’ll share in what has become a Johnson County tradition without even getting out of their cars.
The Johnson County Thanksgiving Banquet — which has been providing free meals for the community on 2008 — is back as a drive-through event this year. Participants will be able to come to the county fairgrounds from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 25 to pick up a Thanksgiving meal, assembled by an army of volunteers and brought car side.
Though organizers hoped to be able to once again gather as one for the banquet, the fact that they are still able to provide a meal to those who need it is the most important thing, said George Dodd, a member of the board of Johnson County Banquets, which puts on the event.
“We are committed to providing a meal to maybe those who don’t have the ability to fix it, or to buy it. We do it happily,” he said. “We’re still missing that human contact point, but we hope to get that back next year.”
The banquet was established in 2008, when church and civic leaders wanted to create a healing event to help the ailing community following that summer’s devastating floods. Local resident Pat Thacker intended to cook for people who lost their kitchens in the floods, and that idea grew to include about 600 meals that first year.
As following years brought recession and economic strife, more and more people attended. In 2019, more than 1,200 people came to Scott Hall to eat, got a take-out meal or had a meal delivered.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to transition to a drive-through event in 2020, as large gatherings were still unsafe. People were able to drive into the Johnson County fairgrounds, stop next to Scott Hall and be given the meals they needed before heading home.
Planners had hoped that with increased vaccinations and hopefully lower COVID numbers, they’d be able to have the banquet in person again in 2021. But as they were finalizing plans in August, the virus was still spreading through the community, and they opted to be cautious, Dodd said.
“For the safety of our volunteers and everyone involved, it was unanimous that we do it as a drive-through again this year,” he said.
The format will be similar to last year, with drivers following a set route into and out of the fairgrounds to make the process as efficient as possible. People are asked to request only one meal per person, and no more than five meals per car, Dodd said.
Last year, about 1,500 people were served meals. Organizers ran out of food with about 15 minutes left, so they’ve made arrangements for additional food this time around.
Still, it is likely that they will run out of meals at some point, so people are encouraged to come to the fairgrounds earlier rather than later, Dodd said.
“We’ve increased our food purchases to try and cover that, but we do anticipate running out this year,” he said.
