Mon, Jul 06 2009
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Published November 27, 2008 11:12 pm - Simon Teresko, 91, started his Thanksgiving dinner with a slice of pumpkin pie. Businesses, volunteers provide holiday meals all across the county By CARL E. FEATHER - Lifestyle Editor - cfeather@starbeacon.com Star Beacon ORWELL — Simon Teresko, 91, started his Thanksgiving dinner with a slice of pumpkin pie.
“I didn’t have much breakfast, that’s why I’m whipping up my appetite,” said Teresko, a Trumbull County resident who slipped across the county line to enjoy dinner at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Orwell. The dinner was sponsored by the Grand Valley Interfaith Services, a group of 10 churches that work together at Thanksgiving and Christmas to provide a free community meal. Helen Orgovan, who coordinated the event, expected 160 to 175 persons for dinner. “That includes the take-out dinners,” Orgovan said, referring to meals delivered to shut-ins. “But if they are healthy enough to come out, we encourage them to do that so they can socialize.” Planning for the meal began weeks ago as each participating congregation committed to supply some aspect of the meal. Most of the preparation was done earlier in the week, so the volunteers who prepare, deliver and serve the meal would have time for meals with their families. Orgovan said Interfaith started the dinner with the idea of providing indigent people with a good meal, but it has evolved into much more. “It’s people with no place to go, or whose family is too small to fix a Thanksgiving Day turkey for,” she said. Floyd Duhl of Rome brought his wife, two sons and a daughter-in-law to the meal. “That way we don’t have to fix dinner at the house,” he said as they waited for the serving line to open. “It’s easier to come here.” Duhl said he planned to stay at the fellowship hall and talk to other diners until it closed, then “go home and watch television.” Teresko, who lost his wife recently, said he planned to go home, do some laundry and wait for one of his children to call. Orgovan said she’d have dinner with her daughter at the church, but their family Thanksgiving meal would have to wait until Saturday. Giving to those in need takes precedence. “My family just knows that we don’t celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving on those days,” she said. The Rev. John and Mae Salters celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary and Thanksgiving Day with a couple of hundred guests at G.O. Ministries on Station Avenue, the ministry that the Salters founded. The meal there was nothing short of a feast: three kinds of turkey — fried, roasted and Spanish — plus macaroni and cheese, all kinds of vegetables, appetizers and desserts. The meal has become a tradition for G.O. Ministries, but Mae says it almost didn’t come off this year. Her mother, Elnora Moore, had always helped prepare the turkeys. Elnora passed away last week, and Mae struggled with putting together the meal under a burden of grief. Volunteers from nearly two dozen congregations helped her pull off the mammoth task, which included packing and delivering about 200 meals to seniors and disabled persons in the community. Randy Vencill, a member of the Pentecostal Church of God, provided taxi service for people who didn’t have transportation to the meal. “It’s the Christian thing to do,” he said, explaining why he gave up a portion of the holiday to help others. 
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