PORT ANGELES — The dining room at the Port Angeles Salvation Army was filled with the sights, sounds and smells of an early Thanksgiving feast Wednesday.
Although the free community feast opened at noon, 30 minutes later, more than 100 people had been served in the dining room below the Salvation Army’s main offices at 206 S. Peabody St.
A total of 189 were fed before the feast ended at 3 p.m., Salvation Army Major Scott Ramsey said later.
The number is down from 2013, when the kitchens served 230 meals, Ramsey said.
Organizers were not certain why there were fewer visitors this year.
There was plenty of food to go around, said Brian Radford, kitchen supervisor and head cook, who worked with about 20 volunteers to prepare the meal.
“We prepared 16 turkeys, 85 pounds of stuffing, 60 pounds of sweet potatoes, 50 pounds each of mashed potatoes and salad, 30 cherry pies, 30 pumpkin pies and 30 apple pies,” Radford said.
“We cooked for three days straight,” he said.
As the meal began to be served, the line for food snaked out the door and up the driveway leading to the dining room.
People waved and laughed, greeting friends as they arrived and chatting about their lives and the meal they were about to eat.
Most of those who eat at the Salvation Army dining room for the early Thanksgiving meal are those who are regular visitors to the kitchens, Ramsey said.
In the past six months, an average of 100 diners have come to the regular lunches, with 40 or 50 at breakfast, he said.
During the winter, the Salvation Army serves breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and lunch from noon to 1 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
The food pantry is open for families in need from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Jenni Tiderman, 36, of Port Angeles said the people who eat regularly at the dining hall have become family — people who don’t judge others for their current situation or their past.
“These guys have been amazing. They’ve been keeping me alive for almost two years now,” Tiderman said, adding that “they fed me while I was on the street.”
She said that while her circumstances have improved, the people she met there while struggling through her difficulties have become family.
“They never judged me. This is a chance to be with the people who stuck by me,” she said.
Melissa Martin, 41, of Port Angeles said that when she fell on hard times, she found family in the Salvation Army community.
Martin, a teacher who helped students earn their General Educational Development certificates through Peninsula College, was laid off during state budget cuts and found herself with $800 per month in unemployment benefits and $800 monthly rent for her home in the Lake Sutherland area.
She said she turned to temporary work in Sequim to make ends meet. Between commuting and working, she wasn’t eating, she said.
“This is where I came every morning. It became part of my routine so that I would remember to eat,” she said.
After awhile, she learned that people who eat together at the Salvation Army kitchen look out for each other, and if someone isn’t seen for a while, they check up to find out if something is wrong.
“We are like a family,” Martin said.
She said while her life is turning around again and becoming more stable, she still has a thin budget.
“I can’t afford milk or coffee. I come here to get something warm,” she said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
