By William Meiners
Herald Staff Writer
[private] The Community Thanksgiving on Thursday seems to be reverting to form at the First Presbyterian Church of Alma. A single cancellation in 2020 kept last year from being the 30th anniversary of the gathering. What’s more, this year’s version is welcoming folks back inside after a 2021 drive-through setup which was more of a procession of cars.
Throughout its three decades, the gathering has welcomed all while relying on many hands to make and serve the food. It all started with Craig Zeese’s idea for a community potluck at the old American Legion and three turkeys from Larry’s IGA.
The numbers are always worth reporting. In 2021, around 50 volunteers helped prepare 40 turkeys, some 200 pounds of potatoes, and plenty of sides. That bounty amounts to around 420 meals served. Roger Allman, who has helped organize the kitchen efforts for about 25 years, figures the 2022 numbers will be about the same.
Allman estimated that around 100 meals will be ready for up to 10 volunteer drivers to deliver around the county. They’re up and running and the in-house meal should be served up around noon. Though servers dig into some well-earned turkey shortly thereafter.
Family gathering
For Allman, who worked in food service, the helping hand he lent a quarter century ago just never stopped. In fact, those hands only multiplied as his children, and now grandchildren, turn out under the cover of darkness for the 5 a.m. prep work.
“You would think I’d be saying it’s time to dump this and let someone else do it,” Allman said. “But it has become such a great big fun part of our family Thanksgiving, I don’t think anyone wants to drop it. This is our favorite holiday of the year and for that reason.”
Allman’s daughter, Laura Elizabeth Allman-Knieper, in a familiar turkey hat, will be there. Two Allman brothers, Buddy, and Christopher, dressed like chefs, try to make logistical sense of multiple boiling pots and heating ovens. The grandkids, including Chase Allman-Knieper, who made it home from college in Arizona last year but not this year, are often knee deep in 100 pounds of coleslaw. Though not literally. Aria, Alex, and Drew Allman, the 15-year-old triplets of Christopher and his wife Dawn, who once smashed bags of potato chips to go on top of green beans, are aging into more demanding kitchen and service roles.
Of course it’s all-hands-on deck when it comes to prepping some 400 meals. By now, dozens and dozens of high school kids, many from the Youth Advisory Council of the Gratiot County Community Foundation, have peeled a mountain of potatoes.
It’s usually between 1:30 and 2 p.m. when the volunteers call it quits. With the shared in-person meal this year, that could mean a well-deserved nap in the afternoon. For the Allman clan, maybe it’s the second half of the Lions game and some pie.
Fighting hunger
Reverend Katrina Pekich-Bundy has been the minister at First Presbyterian Church of Alma since August 2021. Last year was her first Community Thanksgiving as she greeted cars and checked for names on a reservation list. “This was an absolute joy because people were filled with gratitude and I had the privilege of hearing their stories, their traditions, and how the Cafe community is their family,” she said. “This is more than just a meal; it’s about creating a community that sustains one another.”
The Community Café, which is also housed at First Presbyterian, happens every Thursday, not just Thanksgiving. Pekich-Bundy said, “When we look at numbers and statistics of Cafe, we often say, ‘We had so many people, we’d like it if we lived in a world where that number was zero because it meant people weren’t living in poverty or struggling to find meals.’ But until that day, we’ll keep doing this.”
Like many communities, Gratiot County is no stranger to food insecurity, and the economic realities of inflation, or lack of opportunity, can exasperate the problem. Pekich-Bundy describes the church as a “Matthew 25 congregation,” which is an initiative within the denomination. “Being a Matthew 25 congregation means we are committed to congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty,” she said. “Ideally, we want to feed people and also change the systems and policies that keep people in the cycles of poverty.”
Pekich-Bundy first helped out with the Community Café in her own school days at Alma College from 2003 to 2007. It has long been defined by its community effort. “We cannot do this alone,” she said. “To make a change in the community, and the world, we have to work together. I love that this is intergenerational and that all are welcome to participate.”
Of course, there’s also something very welcome about a shared meal, especially when circumstances can deny one. “I think that many of us had those moving and meaningful moments of sitting down with family or friends for the first time after the stay-at-home order,” Pekich-Bundy said. “Meals have always had a communal and joyful aspect to them, but they became even more meaningful after we were forced to stay apart.”
Indeed, Pekich-Bundy considers the shared food and stories to be a very sacred space. “As a minister, as someone who officiates at the communion table, meals have a sacred meaning to me,” she said. “I believe that the Holy One is present any time we break bread with one another. This year will be no different.”
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