For the Hobart Rotary, It's About Community

Liz Page

HOBART – There was gentle chatter as members of the Hobart Rotary Club and Friends of Rotary volunteers waited for the arrival of community members to enjoy what is now a three-year tradition for the Club. They had been cooking and prepping for the better part of two days to get all the turkeys roasted, the stuffing made and potatoes peeled, cooked and mashed.

Michael Sandoval, president of the Hobart Rotary Club was stirring the gravy as Art Turner kept a watchful eye on everything heating up in the ovens inside the Hobart Community Center on November 23. Lisa Driscoll, the club's treasurer, was the head cook, overseeing the various dishes for the feast she said is designed simply to bring members of the community together to enjoy a good meal.

"We simply want to give back to the community," said Driscoll. "What better way than to bring everybody together for a good meal."

And, as the first community members came through the door, Rotary members manned their stations, to serve up the well-prepared turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

There is no cost for the meal, but there was a donation jug to collect money for the local food bank.

Members of the community filtered in and out for a few hours, enjoying the meal, but perhaps even more so, seeing one another and catching up on what's going on in everyone's life; Who is coming home for Thanksgiving? When are you leaving for Florida?

Driscoll said the Hobart Rotary Club enjoys the event just as much as the community and brings them together as well to have a good time doing the hard work of prepping the big meal which served at least 80 people last year. She was hoping for a larger crowd this year.

It serves young and old and for some families as many as three generations come to enjoy the meal.

Michael Sandoval stirs the turkey gravy for the Hobart Rotary Club's community turkey dinner on Nov. 23, as Art Turner stands by, ready to check what was in the ovens at the Hobart Community Center.

Members of the Hobart Rotary Club and a few of their volunteer friends gathered for a photo just before they opened the doors to a free community Thanksgiving dinner at the Hobart Community Hall on Nov. 23.

From left, Marcella Gonzales, Jill Doroski and Lisa Driscoll serve turkey with all the fixings to members of the community on Nov. 23. The free dinner was an opportunity to pay back members of the community and bring the community together to enjoy a good meal.

The dessert table for the Hobart Rotary Club's annual community dinner was full of goodies and had some saying they wished dessert could come first.