Reviving the Community Thanksgiving

The Wimberley Community Thanksgiving Dinner emerged in the mid-80s as a simple response to thoughts like, “I don’t have family to get together, or I really don’t want to be around my family. I would rather do Thanksgiving with my friends from town,” said Dave Lewis, 42year Wimberley resident and business owner. The 2022 version marks the 32nd occasion of the dinner, which Lewis and numerous volunteers last hosted at the Wimberley Community Center in 2019 prior to the breakout of COVID. That year, 701 people were served at the gathering.

What started small lasted a few years then dissipated.

“We went a couple of years without getting together,” Lewis said. “But the desire to be together didn’t wane. In a while, a committee formed to bring it back. Then I became the only one carrying it forward.”

For Lewis, the event is about community, and specifically Wimberley, Woodcreek and Woodcreek North. “This place is about people. We have great moments of engagement – like during the Memorial Day Flood. Everyone found opportunities to serve and show care for one another. That is community. Thanksgiving is another time to celebrate our people.”

The 71-year-old restaurateur moved to Wimberley in 1979 after spending a few days in town. “I liked it here and felt like I could find something the village needed, so I could make a living and stay,” Lewis said.

He located a small building off of the square and opened Cypress Creek Sandwich Shop on Market Days weekend October 1979. “We did $400 worth of business on Saturday. I was excited for the prospects. On Monday, I sold a total of three sandwiches... including one to myself.”

His landlord introduced him to people in the community and the shop began to thrive, lasting until Lewis opened John Henry’s restaurant on Cypress Creek where Chillz is currently located. “I just loved looking down on that creek. I knew others would appreciate the view,” said Lewis.

Many iterations followed including a second restaurant – a Mexican food establishment named Juan Enriquez’s (Spanish for John Henry’s) – at the River Road location of today’s Fish Tails. After the “Great Flood of ‘98,” and a few years of folks asking for American fare at a Mexican food restaurant, Lewis combined menus and names on River Road resulting in Juan Henry’s. Lewis remained until stepping aside in 2009 but continues to involve himself in area matters behind the scenes with love for the town and her inhabitants.

The Community Thanksgiving feast is driven by contributions and volunteers. Ozona Bank receives monetary gifts year-round in an account under Wimberley Community Thanksgiving Dinner. Donations are also accepted at the door of the Community Center, located at 14068 Ranch Road 12, on Thanksgiving Day. Volunteers serve in a variety of positions: cooks, line servers, drink and desserts servers, as well as delivery drivers.

“So many come thinking that they’re giving to others but they receive just as much joy and happiness. It’s overwhelming to most. They’re genuinely moved,” Lewis said. “To see someone come to help be blessed by the experience so much that they come back again and again warms the heart.”

All of the dishes – 22 smoked turkeys smoked by Kelly Evers of Kelly’s Hill Country Barbeque, 10 large pans of both sweet potato pie and green bean casserole, another dozen pans of cornbread dressing, along with the fixings of dinner rolls, turkey gravy and cranberry sauce – are prepared fresh and cooked the morning of the dinner.

“I want to make sure if people require delivery, they know we can get those meals to them,” Lewis said. “All they need to do is call and leave a voicemail about how many they need, give us an address for delivery, and we’ll handle getting them dropped off.”

Want to volunteer? Call Dave Lewis on his cell at (512)923-5380 and leave a message expressing interest.

“Folks willing to cook are at a premium. We have simple instructions laid out so no one has to be worried about how to mix it all together. We have a little experience,” Lewis grinned, adding “every position is important when you share a smile and a moment of warmth. Isn’t that what community is about?”