Elks Club Secretary Janel Parker, left, chats with a volunteer on Thursday, Nov. 25, during the club’s free community Thanksgiving dinner. “Did you get fed?” she asked him.

JOHN DAY — If you think cooking Thanksgiving dinner for your family is a big job, try cooking for 300.

That’s how many meals the John Day Elks Club prepared this year for its annual holiday feast.

Dine-in service returned to the Elks Lodge this year after being canceled by COVID in 2020, but there was still a big demand for takeout dinners: according to the club’s tally, 119 meals went out the door before noon on Thursday, Nov. 25.

“We had people showing up just to do delivery,” Charlie Caughlin, the club’s grand exalted ruler, said during the lull before dine-in service began at 1 p.m. “We had people from Prairie City come and pick up food, we had people from Mt. Vernon come and pick up food.”

More than three dozen volunteers turned out to help prepare the feast, which included 16 turkeys, 55 pounds of ham, stuffing, vegetables and 48 pies for dessert.

“We need to order more ham next year,” Caughlin added.

Flora Cheadle drove in from Mt. Vernon to pick up dinners for her family and a neighbor.

“Usually I cook at home,” she said, “but this is such a great temptation.”

Janel Parker, the club’s secretary, said a $3,000 grant from the Elks National Foundation helped cover the cost of the dinner.

“Our members make contributions to that national foundation, and it comes back to the community,” she said.

While the annual holiday meal is open to all comers at no charge, Parker said the club makes a special effort to reach out to seniors, veterans and youth.

And there’s never any shortage of volunteers to help with the work, she added, noting that other organizations and community members pitch in every year. For instance, she said, Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter and his family sliced up all the pies and set them out on single-serving plates or packed them in to-go boxes.

“It’s an incredible fellowship that happens around food,” she said.

Leftovers are donated to the local senior center and veterans groups, Parker added, “so nothing goes to waste.”

That was especially true this year. On Thanksgiving morning, Parker said, she got a phone call from a man asking if he could have the turkey necks. He told her he had fond memories of his mother and grandmother cooking up turkey necks for family gatherings.

“So I saved the necks,” Parker said.

“Because of those necks, we’ve made someone’s heart happy,” she added. “That’s what Thanksgiving is all about, those memories.”