Crawford Council on Aging serves free Thanksgiving meals for seniors
The Crawford County Council on Aging will host two free Thanksgiving Meals for senior citizens aged 60 and older in Crestline and Bucyrus on Tuesday, Nov. 14, and Thursday, Nov. 16, respectively.
“The goal is to reach as many seniors in Crawford County,” said Executive Director of the Crawford County Council on Aging Cassie Herschler.
Herschler said they started the senior citizens Thanksgiving meals in 2020 because of the COVID-19 virus, and this is their fourth annual event. She said they typically do their Thanksgiving meals a bit ahead of the time to be able to reach seniors who may have other plans on the actual Thanksgiving Day with their families.
She said a lot of the seniors opted to come for the Crawford County Council on Aging Thanksgiving meal together. After they get their meals, and that’s especially true for the Bucyrus location, they usually go together to one of their homes and eat the meal together.
“It’s like a fellowship for some of them as well,” Herschler said.
In Crestline, said Herschler, the organizers are trying to do a sit down meal as part of their efforts to better unite the community and to provide more opportunities for the seniors to interact with each other.
This year each Thanksgiving meal for the seniors will include some of the usual Thanksgiving treats, such as turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, butter, and dessert.
“There will be a variety of pies,” said Herschler.
More: Early birds: Council on Aging serves Thanksgiving dinner to seniors in Crestline
Sponsors for the dinners
The Bucyrus sponsors of the event are Thom and Susan Cathcart, in memory of Susan’s mother Lillian Westhoff, who passed away last December at the age of 102. The Cathcarts said Westhoff was a loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and she was married for 69 years.
“She enjoyed being outdoors gardening, walking around the yard, visiting with family and watching the sunset,” reads the official event flier on the organizers’ Facebook page.
In addition, the annual sponsor for the Crestline event is Covert Manufacturing Inc. The first meal in 2020 was distributed to 350 people, and the following few years around 250 meals were distributed to the seniors in the area.
This year’s goal is to reach 300 people for the Bucyrus drive-through meal and to serve 40 people during the sit down meal in Crestline, said Herschler. Both of the meals are intended for seniors aged 60 and older.
“We are going to try to do more if we can,” she said.
More: Briefs: Council on Aging hopes to serve Thanksgiving meal to 300 seniors
The Bucyrus location for the drive-thru style Thanksgiving meal will be offered at 200 S. Spring St. 1-2 p.m. The Crestline meal is scheduled at Crestline Community Center, 143 W. Bucyrus St., at 1 p.m., and it is open for seniors who reside in Crestline and Galion.
The seniors need to pre-register for the meal, and need to live in Crawford County. To make a reservation, call the Crawford County Council on Aging at 419-562-3050 through Friday.
“Only a limited number of meals will be available,” the organizers said on their Facebook page. “Remember - you will receive a Thanksgiving meal only if you have a ticket!”
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Crawford Council on Aging serves free Thanksgiving meals for seniors
