To the Community
Did you host more than 500 people this Thanksgiving? With your help, Family of Woodstock did again this year! Family of Woodstock’s 42nd Annual Thanksgiving Dinner was delicious and full of gratitude.
Family cannot do this without our generous community. The well-oiled (pun intended) coordinating team includes Lisa Childers, Bobbi Cooper, Renee Englander, Maria Ferguson, Claudia Gahagan, Susan Goldman, Chester Pertchik, Leigh Kofke, Alan Rovitsky, Randi Solomon, Maryanne Kalin-Miller, Ron VanWarmer, Susan Carroll and Tamara Cooper.
Thanks to the terrific response to Family’s Forks and Spoons Campaign this Fall, people ate with real cutlery. And all of that food generated just 2 bags of garbage thanks, once again, to Zero to Go who managed composting and recycling. That carbon footprint might be smaller than most people who hosted their families at home!
Please notice our Thank You’s. There are a lot but we want you to visit these businesses and show your appreciation. Many have given for years, others are new this year and we welcome their participation: A team picked up donations from these area food businesses on Wednesday: Bistro to Go; Boiceville Supermarket; Boitson’s; Bread Alone; Brios; Catskill Mt. Pizza; Cheese Louise; Christina’s; Colony; Cub Market; Deisings; Duo Bistro; Frank Guido’s Italian Bistro; Garden Cafe on the Green; Hannaford Supermarket West Hurley; Hickory BBQ; Horn of Plenty; Hudson Valley Dessert; Joshua’s Restaurant; La Bella Pasta; La Cucina; Lori’s Café; NANA’s Creative Café; Maria’s Bazaar; Mountain Gate Indian Restaurant; Mother Earth’s Storehouse; Mud Club; Phoenicia Diner; Provisions Restaurant & Bar; Red Onion; Regianato Ristorante; Reservoir Inn; Saugerties Diner (Michelle’s); Savona’s Pizzeria/Trattoria; Shindig; Stewart’s; Sunflower Natural Foods; Sunfrost; The Bear Café; The Little Bear; The Tavern at Diamond Mills; Wok and Roll and Woodstock Pizza Theater.
A special thanks to Provisions for stepping in to cook six turkeys and to all of you in the community who took the time to cook something extra. You are why our Feast has that home-made taste! The Town of Woodstock’s Kerry Muldoon and Alan Van Leuvan facilitated our use of the Community Center (thanks to the Town, without charge). Pat Leiske and Christina Blum coordinated Markertek’s generous donation of paper goods which were 100% recyclable! St. John’s Parish donated tables and Michael Sainsbury and The Sterling Men’s Group transported all to the Community Center, set up the space and worked with a team of volunteers to return the Center to its pristine condition. Dozens of volunteers worked the kitchen, served and helped to clean up.
Thanks to our local media outlets who spread the word about our dinner. Generous with air time and print space, The Ulster Publishing papers in Woodstock, New Paltz and Kingston as well as Radio Woodstock/100.1 (this year voiced by John Sebastian for us) made sure everyone knew the dinner was happening.
Did you miss helping us this year? We will be back again next November. We wish you safe and peaceful holidays.
Tamara Cooper
Program Director, Family of Woodstock
