Thanksgiving is just a little over three weeks away, and plans for the 14th annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner are well under way.

The event, which is organized by the First Presbyterian Church, but is carried out by many in Logan County, has one major change this year though.

Instead of having the sit-down meal at the church, this year it will be held at the Sportsman Club building in Memorial Park.

Last year the dinner served 466 people – all free of charge.

Approximately 350 of the Thanksgiving meals were delivered to people all throughout Logan County.

Just over 100 took part in the sit-down meal last year, but organizers are hoping to change that this year by having the meal in the much larger Sportsman Club.

“We want to get as many people out to this dinner as possible,” said event coordinator Annie Hall. “This will be a good way for some of the people who might otherwise be alone on Thanksgiving to get out and have a good meal with others.”

In addition to having more room for folks to sit down and have the meal, volunteers will be going out into the community and giving rides to anyone that needs transportation to the Sportsman Club.

The boxed meals will continue to be delivered to those that want them, however.

The meal is for all sorts of people, from those who don’t have family close by to those who really need a good meal. All can come together for a wonderful time of food and fellowship.

“If people have out of town company and they just don’t want to cook, they are more than welcome to come on out and have dinner with us,” Hall said.

The dinner is designed to give people a place to come together and enjoy a family style, traditional Thanksgiving meal. The tables are set in fall decor and real dishes and silverware are used. Dinner includes turkey, dressing, various side dishes, rolls, dessert and drinks. Everyone is welcome and there is no cost.

All of the food is donated by the community. And while the turkeys have been taken care of, the meal organizers are still looking for a few other food items that they will need.

“We figured that we would need 50 turkeys and we had one individual commit to buy 36, so that was very nice,” Hall said. “But we still need some things like sweet potato casseroles and cranberry sauce and things like that.”

Volunteers to help with the meal are also needed.

“We really need some people that are willing to come out Wednesday night and help carve the turkeys and get things ready,” Hall said. “We also need drivers to make sure we have enough people to help deliver the meals.”

First Presbyterian Church is already taking orders for the free meals which will be delivered and scheduling rides for those that want to be picked up and driven to the Sportsmen Club for the dinner. Orders will be taken up until Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.

Also, you can call the church to sign up to be a volunteer or to see about donating food by calling the church at 726-6207.