Express Photos by Willy Cook
Gratitude and giblets
Thanksgiving day dining options
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
Ah, Turkey Day—a time of stuffing oneself silly, crawling to the boob
tube to watch football, and maybe watching some silly parade in a town far, far away.
Pertinent stuff.
Ken
Ferris begins the carving process for a Thanksgiving dinner, while Hayley Andrews looks on
in anticipation
Be that cynic vision as it may, Thanksgiving still has the ability to make
us yearn for hearth and home, take a walk in fallen leaves, of Granny’s apple pie,
and the smell of an overstuffed bird slowly baking and being basted in the oven.
But if you’re needing something akin to atmosphere, there are various
options that might appeal. There are, for instance, several local restaurants open on
Thanksgiving.
It’s a fine way to find a meal if you’re visiting and lack a
kitchen of one’s own, or if you simply need to give your dishpan hands a break at
cleanup time.
Apples in Warm Spring is the place for end-of-opening-day-of-ski-season
fare. Galena Lodge has two seatings for their yearly turkey feast, at 4 and 6:30 p.m.
Hana Sushi will be open for the non-fowl inclined.
Guess
who’s coming to dinner?
Traditional Thanksgiving dinners will be served at Elkhorn’s River
Rock Steak House, the Sun Valley Lodge Dining Room, Coyote Grill, Warm Springs Ranch, and
in the Sun Valley Inn’s Limelight Room.
But, by far, the most appropriate experience is the St. Charles Parish
Hall in Hailey, where a free sit-down dinner will be served for anyone without family or
even for families in want of a more enveloping day.
The Wood River Jaycees has been serving up this dinner for the past three
years. They cook enough food for 200, figuring on 100 for dinner and at least 75 baskets
of food delivered or picked up, said Jaycee Konni Chapman.
The Rotary Club of the Wood River Valley donates turkeys and baskets every
year, and area schools and the state Department of Health and Welfare office have been
contacted for names of needy families who’ll receive baskets. Many folks simply come
and pick them up in person on Wednesday evening.
Around 50 volunteers help over the two days of basket filling, deliveries,
as well as with cooking, cleaning and serving on Thanksgiving at the St. Charles Parish
Hall in Hailey.
The doors will be open at 1 p.m., and dinner will be served at 3 p.m.
The traditional American Thanksgiving began in the 1600s by the Pilgrims,
who had been aided in finding and planting native foods by local Native Americans. The
harvest festival--which Thanksgiving was called prior to 1863 when President Lincoln
declared it an official national holiday--is a celebration of the fall harvest and happens
in various and diverse ways the world over, always with parades, dancing, and a great
feast.
In whatever way is chosen to celebrate, remember: eat, drink and be merry,
share and be grateful.
Oh yeah--gluttony is still one of the seven deadly sins.
