CHIMACUM — Just a week ago, the annual free Christmas dinner that traditionally serves several hundred people in East Jefferson County had been called off.
Now, members of the public have two choices for a big free feast.
People looking for a warm, public holiday meal on Christmas Day can eat at the Tri-Area Community Center,10 West Valley Road in Chimacum, or at the Port Townsend Recreation Center, 620 Tyler St.
Both dinners will be from noon to 3 p.m. Christmas Day and are free of charge, although contributions are accepted.
“We are all set up for two dinners,” said Bill Kraut, Hadlock Building Supply owner.
“We are working out some of the logistical issues, but we have plenty of volunteers.”
Kraut stepped in to help create the Port Townsend feast after reading in the Peninsula Daily News and weekly Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader that Olympic Community Action Programs, or OlyCAP, had canceled its annual free dinner at the Tri-Area Community Center.
After 21 years of hosting the meal, OlyCAP officials had determined the organization could no longer support the event.
Volunteers, donations
A group of volunteers, including past participants Hugh Murphy and Bob Goldberg, called a meeting, where it was decided to host a meal at the Port Townsend Community Center.
But publicity about the cancellation led to an anonymous donation to OlyCAP for $2,000 and several others adding up to $3,500, covering the cost of the meal.
And it was found that many wanted a meal to be served in Chimacum.
“Many of the people attending live in the area and arrive on foot,” Kraut said. “They have no way to get to Port Townsend.”
Pete Leenhouts, president of the East Jefferson Rotary Club, which provided the initial impetus to resuscitate the Tri-Area event, agreed.
“When people heard the meal was going to be served in Port Townsend, they made it clear they wanted it to stay where it was,” Leenhouts said.
OlyCAP Executive Director Dale Wilson said the money not used for the Tri-Area center meal will be returned or saved for future events.
It is not now planned to help put on the Port Townsend meal.
“The word I got about the Port Townsend group is they were covered,” Wilson said.
However, he added: “If they needed help, I’d certainly sit down and talk with them.”
Chefs for each meal
Jefferson Healthcare hospital will donate food for the Port Townsend meal, with the hospital’s chef, Arran Stark, leading the cooking team, Kraut said.
For the Tri-Area feast, OlyCAP has recruited Gabe Santiago, a Port Angeles-based chef who has previously worked with the nonprofit.
No dearth of volunteers
OlyCAP officials cited a lack of volunteers as the reason for deciding to support only one meal in 2015.
Thanksgiving was chosen, since it has drawn more people than the Christmas Day meal in the past.
OlyCAP reported a shortage of volunteers at last month’s Thanksgiving meal, which reinforced its decision to cancel the Christmas meal.
Volunteers are no longer an issue.
Organizers for both events said each has more than 100 people willing to donate their time.
Murphy said organizers of the Port Townsend dinner were surprised by the rebirth of the original OlyCAP meal but decided to continue the planning and sponsorship of the Port Townsend meal.
Representatives of both groups said they are not competing with each other. Instead, the two events increase the options for people looking for a meal.
The Meals on Wheels program, which serves about 120 people, is a separate OlyCAP venture and was never affected by the changes in the public feast, Wilson said.
The Boiler Room, 711 Water St., also will offer a free dinner beginning at 3 p.m. and continuing as long as supplies last.
For more information or to donate or help out at the Port Townsend meal, call Kraut at 360-385-1771.
For information about the Chimacum meal, contact Rainey Blankenship at 360-732-4822.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
