Robin and Tony Streigle talk about plans for this year's Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Webster City Church of Christ, where Tony Streigle is pastor.

“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers(…), lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.” Luke 14: 12-24

You can’t miss the sign on the front door of the Webster City Church of Christ. It says, in large letters: “We’re so glad you’re here.”

Well, you say, every church says that, and you’d be right. But it takes on extra meaning at Thanksgiving.

For the second year in a row, the church is hosting a communal Thanksgiving meal, and they’re going all out to make it easy to attend and enjoy for anyone who may be alone or simply wants the company of other people during this year’s holiday.

The meal is free.

Thanksgiving traditions in Webster City have varied through the years. Pages of The Daily Freeman-Journal and predecessor newspapers are full of evidence for that.

The edition of Wednesday, November 27, 1911, for instance, contained two items of historical interest. The first was a notice the Webster City Gun Club was holding its annual Thanksgiving Shoot. It’s not clear whether turkeys were involved, but more likely it was target practice on a day the club hoped the weather would cooperate.

The same paper carried a display advertisement sponsored by Robinson Baking Company, which advised it would serve a full traditional Thanksgiving menu at its downtown storefront, or boxed up for take-away. So you see, apparently not everybody cooked at home in 1911, and some turned to restaurant meals. No Door Dash back then, but otherwise there’s nothing new under the sun.

Jumping ahead to the November 25, 1938, the Daily Freeman-Journal, we find a breathless advertisement for the long-forgotten film “Reunion,” which was modestly described in the copy as “one of the most sensationally unusual motion pictures ever made.” It starred the Dione quintuplets and was directed by Norman Taurog.

Never heard of them? We haven’t either.

The film, running at the Granada Theatre, ran continuously from 1 to 11 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, proof that folks then, as now, still need something to do before, or after, the turkey’s carved.

If you didn’t think you could face the Dione quints on a full stomach, you could always tune in to the Detroit Lions annual Thanksgiving day football game on your radio. That year they triumphed over the Chicago Bears 14-7.

Over the decades, most Webster City churches have held Thanksgiving eve or day services for their own members, and a few have arranged Thanksgiving meals for senior members and shut-ins of their own congregation.

For many years, Asbury United Methodist Church was the setting for a community Thanksgiving dinner. Long-time member Don Anderson, of rural Webster City, remembers the tradition was started by his mother “and some other church ladies,” but couldn’t place the exact year.

Dave and Ann Kennedy, who were in charge of serving community Thanksgiving dinners in Asbury’s basement dining hall, said, “It was originally started as a place for those without nearby relatives or others who were alone on Thanksgiving.”

Dave Kennedy couldn’t remember exactly when the church quit serving the dinner, but it was likely sometime in the mid-2000s.

That was about the time Asbury discontinued its annual Christmas Cookie Walk. For this, the congregation’s hard-working church ladies each baked dozens of cookies. At the door, you paid a small fee, and were handed a small bakery box and bakery tissue.

Then you were led into a basement full of Christmas cookies, some of them painstakingly hand-decorated, where you selected the ones you wanted. When your box was full, it was sealed with cellophane tape and you gleefully went on your way, your own holiday “baking” now complete.

(If anyone at Asbury reads this, please, oh, please, bring back that great Webster City tradition!)

Now, to return to the present day.

For the Rev. Tony Streigle, pastor of the Webster City Church of Christ, and his wife, Robin, Thanksgiving is just one more opportunity to do the work of God on earth.

Tony Streigle explained: “We have six kids, aged 14 to 27, and have always served together as a family. Maybe we went to a men’s homeless shelter to serve a meal. This is service to, as the Bible says, ‘the least of us.'”

With that same spirit of service, the Streigles, their family, and volunteers from 10 home-schooling families are preparing to cook a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, corn and pumpkin pie.

Even small children will be enlisted in the work. “Three-year-olds can roll silverware in paper napkins,” Tony Streigle said.

For those unable to attend in person, meals can be delivered. If this would benefit you, or your family, phone Robin Streigle at 515-450-7651 to make arrangements in advance. Last year, 20 meals were delivered to homebound Webster Citians, but the Streigles aren’t going to be satisfied with that.

“We’ll even deliver meals to homeless people camping at Briggs Woods, under bridges, or elsewhere, and to the county jail too,” Tony Streigle said.

Members of three other Webster City-area churches, Asbury United Methodist, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic, and Trinity Lutheran, will help serve the Thanksgiving meal, but Streigle quickly added, “No one expects any credit for this; we’re aiming for a unifying community event.”

Every year at this time, the late Kent Harfst used to say Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday. It was, he said, because “there was good food without the presents.”

With a little reflection, all of us should be able to find something to be thankful for this year at Thanksgiving. A good meal, lovingly prepared by others, is one of them. But being there yourself will be one of the best “presents” you could ever give.

We’re sure Harfst wouldn’t mind.

Webster City’s Community Thanksgiving dinner will be held Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, at the Webster City Church of Christ, 900 Des Moines Street, Webster City.

Serving begins at 1 p.m.

There is no charge.