Gurnee Community Church continues Thanksgiving tradition
About 75 Great Lakes Naval Station recruits enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings and hospitality from volunteers Thursday at Gurnee Community Church.
The church started offering the Thanksgiving meal to the sailors in training about 20 years ago. Similar to previous years, Thursday's menu featured turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing, cranberries, soft drinks and desserts.
Church member Ken Roscher, who helped organize Thursday's festivities, said fewer naval recruits are at Great Lakes now, which accounted for the dip from last year's 230 guests.
Roughly 100 Gurnee Community Church volunteers helped stage the holiday dinner - a task that included the purchase of three dozen 22-pound turkeys. Roscher said the church offered the meal to any visitor who stopped in.
As part of the day, the church provided video games for the recruits to play and telephones for them to call loved ones. Great Lakes recruits generally are disconnected from the outside world while in training.