Thirtieth Annual Wimberley Community Thanksgiving Dinner

If you had to give a nickname to Dave Lewis, it would have to be Mr. Wimberley Thanksgiving. The free Thanksgiving dinner at the Community Center is celebrating the thirtieth year and the event hasn’t changed. There are turkey, dressing, cranberries, and dessert, really all the trimmings, for free.

There are a couple of other things that are also offered, maybe more important, such fellowship and community.

“There’s a lot of reasons to attend, I’m alone, I can’t stand my family, I don’t want to cook for just one person… one little old lady said that it was the best Thanksgiving she ever had,” Lewis said. “There are a lot of Bread and Breakfasts in town. Visitors come and think it would be fun to spend time here over the holiday. They don’t realize that everything is closed. What do those people do?”

Starting thirty years ago at Bowen Elementary (where HEB stands now), the first feast had about 100 people attend which has now grown to 500 plus. “It’s scary for me on how many people will show up. You have to calculate how many people by looking at the past.” Food will also be delivered if shut in.

There are 10 hotel pans per each side dish and 220 turkeys that will be smoked by Creekside Cookers and Kelly Evers. “And all the extras, cranberries, dinner rolls a huge dessert table and pecan cobbler which is addicting.” And how do you cook for 500?

“It’s like you’re cooking for five but times 100,” Lewis said with a laugh. But after 30 years the cooks have it down. There are lots of volunteers, some return year after year. “They say “I did it last year and it was so much fun.”

Usually the volunteer cooks start at 7 a.m. “The volunteers are always overwhelming. But your heart will be this big (after volunteering).”

“There are lots of thank you’s to go around, the city by providing the Community Center, dishwashers, thank you Ron and the city staff…Ben E. Keith always gives us a big discount. What a lovely thing this is for the last 30 years.”

Donations are accepted the day of Thanksgiving and all year round at Ozona Bank.

The Wimberley Community Thanksgiving is held 11:00 a.m. until 2 p.m., Thanksgiving Day at the Community Center, 14068 Ranch Road 12.

Set up and decoration- Wednesday 11/21 at 4 p.m.

Volunteer cooks arrived Thursday 11/22 at 8 a.m.

Volunteers arrive Thursday 11/232 T 10 A.M.

Volunteers can call (512) 923-5380

Facebook; Wimberley Community Thanksgiving Dinner