Pounds of potatoes, tons of turkey...

Annual

Thanksgiving meal pulls

community

together

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Once again, people of varying ages and means queued up at St. Mary's Catholic Church Thanksgiving Day for a magnificent spread which over the past 18 years has become an annual tradition.

The dinner is free, but you can make a free-will donation if you like. All the materials for the feast are donated, as well. And a small army of volunteers, numbering well over 100, are responsible for feeding up to 700 persons.

It's a volunteer -- and monster -- undertaking by the Community of Friends organization, headed for years by Jim Thomas.

Some 40 volunteers work the "night" shift Wednesday night, doing as much of the advance preparation as possible. Then, at 4:45 a.m., the first of the 28 turkeys who give their all for this event go into the roasters, Thomas said.

Over 100 volunteers, some of them carry-overs from the night before, hit the deck running Thanksgiving morning. There are 33 tables to be manned by at least two volunteers, Thomas explained. And, there are gallons and gallons of gravy to be made, pounds of potatoes to be smashed, cole slaw to be made and pies to be baked.

"We can serve about 300 people at a time so we run quite a few people through here in an hour and a half," Thomas explained. "So, in about two settings we have it done."

This year's dinner had special meaning for a young man who has been helping make the gravy for nine years.

Jim Wirtz, 30, has earned the title of the "Gravy Man." In fact, he's worn an apron for the last three years with "The Gravy Man" emblazoned across the front. More importantly, however, is that Wirtz has worked his way to the top as this was his first year in charge of the gravy department.

"We usually make about eight to ten batches of one-half to one and one-half gallons. We get the pans from the turkey guys and the pans from the potato guys, throwing it into pans where it's mixed with flour and water. Then, we strain it as we pour it into the big pots."

Wirtz, Josh Luneburg and Luneburg's father, Walt, have been working as a team in the gravy department for five years now, Wirtz said.

Wirtz said he didn't feel the royal purple, medieval "court hat" he wore for this year's event was a symbol of his exalted station as head of the gravy department.

"It just makes me easy to find."

At any rate, whatever the Community of Friends are doing seems to be working.

"It was a really good meal. My wife (Mary) and I have been coming here ever since we got married, and it's always good," said Richard Allen of New Ulm.