Published: November 26, 2008 10:23 am      

Officials take time to cook up a feast

The sweet aroma of sautéed celery and onions greeted visitors as they approached the George Nigh National Guard Armory —whetting the appetites of many within smelling distance.

Inside, Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields labored over a pan to help sauté one of the mixtures, joined by Tommy Graham of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and former District 3 county commissioner Randy Crone.

They were among volunteers who worked at the armory on Tuesday afternoon, helping get ready for the Pittsburg County Community Thanksgiving Dinner.

Pittsburg County Sheriff Jerome “Snookie” Amaranto helped early Tuesday, with Sheriff-elect Joel Kerns assisting in the afternoon.

“Being elected, I feel like it’s been a tradition to come in and help with this,” Kerns said as he de-boned turkeys.

“I’ve got two grown kids and we’re going to deliver,” he said. “We’ll probably take the rural areas, since we know them.”

Volunteer Larry Ivey made some of his popular soup to feed the volunteers. Another longtime volunteer, Hugh Finger, chopped celery.

District 2 Commissioner Kevin Smith and District 1 Commissioner Gene Rogers helped with de-boning turkeys to be used in the dressing.

Both Crone and current Commissioner Donald Mathis showed up to help.

The free holiday dinner with all of the trimmings is set to be served at noon on Thanksgiving Day at the armory at Third Street and Polk Avenue.

Probably the biggest change this year is the decision to put the turkey right inside the dressing, said Pittsburg County Assessor Jim Kelley.

Volunteers planned to cook massive amounts of the main course, said Charlene Spears.

“We’ve got 27 pans and each one holds three quarts of flour, a cup of baking powder, a fourth of a cup of salt, three quarts of milk and a dozen eggs,” along with enough crumbled cornbread, sautéed onions and celery to fill each pan, Spears said.

The volunteers wanted to make sure they cooked enough to feed any Pittsburg County resident who wants to participate in the free holiday meal, with no age or income guidelines for those who want to participate.

While there are no requirements, volunteers need to know how many meals to prepare.

To help ensure that everyone gets a meal who wants one, a volunteer is set to continue taking phone calls up until 5 p.m. today.

The number to call is 423-7379, organizers of the event said.

Also, more volunteers could be used to help deliver the meals on Thursday to those who want to participate but who can’t make it to the armory. Anyone who wants to help in that area should also call the 423-7379 number.

Those who prefer to pick up meals to take home can do so beginning around 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, with home deliveries set to start around 9 a.m. for those who want to participate.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.