Thanksgiving tradition grows at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hawthorn Woods
After their Thanksgiving celebrations thinned as relatives died or moved on, Dean and Susan Stewart took a different approach.
“We started it with people who didn't have traditional Thanksgiving dinners anymore and it started snowballing,” Dean Stewart said.
This Thanksgiving, the evangelical committee will host the 8th annual feast at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 24500 N. Old McHenry Road, Hawthorn Woods. Dinner is open to all, and participation has more than tripled since its inception to about 100 diners.
About half the visitors are from the congregation and half from elsewhere. For the past few years, for example, a contingent of Middle Eastern refugees who live in Lombard have attended, Stewart said. There is always room at the table.
“It's obviously open to everybody. It's completely free. We ask nothing. Come and enjoy the day. It's really fulfilling for us to help out and see different people,” he added.
Fueled by donations of cash and food, including 12 to 20 turkeys each year, there is more than enough for everyone and diners are encouraged to take home leftovers.
The service at 10 a.m. is followed by appetizers at 11 a.m. and then a traditional dinner of turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, canned corn and dinner rolls.
Stewart is a “hobby chef” who prepares the turkeys for five hours in a salt bath followed by four to eight hours in a marinade of butter and spices before popping them in a commercial grade convection oven. Dessert is a special treat you won't find on the low-cal menu.
“I make pumpkin tort, my mother's recipe from when I was a little kid,” Stewart said. “She only made it at Thanksgiving.”
There also is room for the kids to play, publications with ads for Black Friday and a television for football. Stewart said someone invariably arrives with a story that justifies the effort and adds to the fun.
“If you're going to bring a big group, just let us know, but we have more than enough food and more than enough room,” he said. “Anybody can show up and pop in.”