Last Thursday, Vashon Eagles dished up more than 150 free Thanksgiving dinners for community members, complete with turkey, stuffing, pearled onions, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, bread rolls and dessert.
Orchestrating and presiding over the entire event — a job that included cooking all 12 of the turkeys served, as well as most of the main dishes — was Sabrina Carr, kitchen and bar manager for the Eagles. Carr, dressed in sparkling holiday attire that, of course, included stylish and comfortable footwear (black hushpuppies with a wedge heel), welcomed approximately 50 in-person diners to the event, as well as dozens more who picked up another 100 Thanksgiving-meals-to-go.
Preparing and serving the meal was a three-day effort for Carr, who said she was deeply grateful to the almost 20 volunteers who showed up to help. The volunteer turnout included not only club members, Carr said, but also an unusually high number of community members as well.
Megan Lockhart, the club’s social and gambling manager, also played a key role in making the day go off without a hitch. Club members donated store-bought desserts for the meal, and Carr said that so many islanders had generously donated money to help fund the meal that she was able to pay for all the ingredients without having to ask Thriftway and IGA for food donations, as she has done in the past.
Free Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are a tradition for the Vashon Eagles, but that’s not all they do.
Vashon’s local chapter was founded and chartered in 1958. The club boasts hundreds of members and has raised money for important island programs such as the Back-Pack Pantry, Dove Project, Senior Center lunches, Blue Bird Medical Transport, Sunshine Mike’s free ride service, Vashon Island High-School Scholarship Program, and many others. The Eagles support Vashon Fresh, Fix-it Cafe, and the Vashon Tool Library by allowing them free use of their rental spaces.
The Eagles are a community within a community on Vashon, providing a comfortable place to hang out and meet, delicious home-style meals and facilitating friendships that go far beyond that simple definition. Simply put, they make our entire community a better place.
New to the island? Get to know some Eagles if you want to know what neighbors helping neighbors really means. Long may they fly.
To help defray the costs of the Eagles’ Christmas Day meal, mail a check to the club at P.O. Box 207, Vashon, WA 98070, or drop by with your donation at 18134 Vashon Hwy. SW, between 2 and 8 p.m., seven days a week. For more information about the club and all its work in the community, visit vashoneagles3144.com.
