Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Hungry area residents prepare to devour a Thanksgiving meal put on by volunteers Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 at the Kenai Senior Citizens Center in Kenai, Alaska. Volunteers said they expected to feed 40-45 people during this year's potluck.

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Hungry area residents prepare to devour a Thanksgiving meal put on by volunteers Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 at the Kenai Senior Citizens Center in Kenai, Alaska. Volunteers said they expected to feed 40-45 people during this year's potluck.

The community table

When enjoying a Thanksgiving meal with family or friends at home isn’t a possibility, residents of the Kenai Peninsula have no shortage of options when it comes to getting their holiday fix. Businesses and centers continued the tradition of opening their doors and their ovens to feed any families that fell through the cracks

Residents on the central peninsula got to dig into stuffing, potatoes and pie at 11:30 a.m. during the Kenai Senior Citizens Center’s annual potluck. Dave Merrill, one of about seven volunteers, said they expected to feed between 40 and 45 people Thursday. People of all ages are welcome at the feast, he said, and people tend to come for the sense of camaraderie that fills the place.

When asked why volunteers come back year after year to host the meal, Merrill answered that it simply “feel(s) good.”

One newcomer to the potluck was Bob Bedwell, who heard about the meal from a friend and decided to attend to get to know the community a little better. A veteran of the Navy who served in 1972-73, Bedwell relocated to the central Peninsula earlier this year after his home burned down in Anchor Point, so getting to know his neighbors has been a priority, he said.

Enthusiasm for the community meal was no less strong down in Kasilof, where Pastor James Walsh said people arrived before the Kasilof Community Church even swung its doors open at 1 p.m. The church has organized the meal in partnership with the Kasilof Mercantile for the last three years at least. Travis and Junie Steinbeck, owners of the Kasilof Mercantile, donate and cook the turkey and other meats.

“People I talked to said they really appreciated us doing this, and really appreciated the opportunity to come and just sit down and have a good meal and talk to people they didn’t know,” Walsh said.

The Steinbecks said they in turn appreciate the work the church put in terms of making side dishes and desserts, which takes some of the pressure off. They expected to feed between 75 and 100 people Thursday, and it seemed this year’s turnout was busier than last, they said.

The annual meal served at Charlie’s Pizza in Nikiski has drawn enthusiastic crowds for about eight years. This year’s dinner was the last of it’s kind for owner Steve Chamberlain and his wife, Jennifer.

Chamberlain announced earlier this year that he will close the pizza shop, popular among Nikiski residents, and replace it with a greenhouse and nursery which he said Thursday will be called Everett’s Acres.

“I’m very excited about the future,” Chamberlain said.

The Chamberlains still hope to bring Thanksgiving meals to their fellow neighbors, though, and Chamberlain said they will likely continue the tradition on a smaller scale. He said continuing to offer and deliver take-home boxes of Thanksgiving food to area seniors and those who can’t make it out for the holiday is a more feasible possibility. This year, Chamberlain said he and volunteers had dispatched about 50 food boxes by Thursday afternoon.

The in-house meal was also shaping up to be the largest yet, Chamberlain said. He said he was worried not many people would show up, but the parking lot was packed shortly after the doors opened at 3 p.m., and he said about 60 people had been served by 3:30 p.m. Luckily, Chamberlain and his team of family and staff volunteers had prepared for more than 200, just in case.

“Every year we get better at it,” Chamberlain said.

Chamberlain said the green bean casserole and the fruit salad are the crowd favorites.

While the holiday feast sees a lot of repeat customers, Chamberlain said he was glad to see a lot of new faces this year. One of them was Mahlon Troyer, who had previously worked deliveries for Charlie’s Pizza but had never come to the Thanksgiving dinner.

“It definitely brings everyone together because this is a well-known pizza place, everyone knows it and talks about it,” Troyer said. “Just to have Thanksgiving and bring all the families together that don’t have really families to go to for Thanksgiving is awesome, you know? It’s a miracle.”

 

Megan Pacer can be reached at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Charlie's Pizza owner Steve Chamberlain and Maryann Yerkes, an employee, keep the food stocked during the annual Thanksgiving meal put on at the restaurant Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 in Nikiski, Alaska. Set to close at the end of the year, the owners of Charlie's Pizza hope to continue providing Thanksgiving meals in the future on a smaller scale.

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Charlie’s Pizza owner Steve Chamberlain and Maryann Yerkes, an employee, keep the food stocked during the annual Thanksgiving meal put on at the restaurant Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 in Nikiski, Alaska. Set to close at the end of the year, the owners of Charlie’s Pizza hope to continue providing Thanksgiving meals in the future on a smaller scale.

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Mahlon Troyer fills up his plate during the annual Thanksgiving meal put on at Charlie's Pizza on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 at the restaurant in Nikiski, Alaska. Set to close at the end of the year, the owners of Charlie's Pizza hope to continue providing Thanksgiving meals in the future on a smaller scale.

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Mahlon Troyer fills up his plate during the annual Thanksgiving meal put on at Charlie’s Pizza on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 at the restaurant in Nikiski, Alaska. Set to close at the end of the year, the owners of Charlie’s Pizza hope to continue providing Thanksgiving meals in the future on a smaller scale.

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Thanksgiving fixings from sweet potatoes and green bean casserole to pies and cobbler adorn a table during a meal provided by the Kasilof Mercantile and the the Kasilof Community Church on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 at the church in Kasilof, Alaska.

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Thanksgiving fixings from sweet potatoes and green bean casserole to pies and cobbler adorn a table during a meal provided by the Kasilof Mercantile and the the Kasilof Community Church on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 at the church in Kasilof, Alaska.

More in News

A map of 2025 construction projects scheduled for the Kenai Peninsula. (Provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Department of Transportation announces construction plans

Most of the projects include work to various major highways.

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward adds full-time staffer for recently restarted teen rec room

Seward’s Parks and Recreation Department reclaimed responsibility for teen programming at the start of this year.

Gavin Ley stands with the “Go-Shopping Kart” he designed and built in his career and technical education courses at Nikiski Middle/High School in Nikiski, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski students learn professional skills through technical education

Career and technical education gives students opportunity to learn skills, express themselves creatively, work cooperatively and make decisions.

Nikiski teachers, students and parents applaud Nikiski Middle/High Principal Mike Crain as he’s recognized as the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals 2025 Region III Principal of the Year by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education during their meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski principal named Region III principal of the year

Crain has served as Nikiski’s principal for three years.

An 86 pound Kenai River king salmon is measured in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 29, 1995. (M. Scott Moon/Peninsula Clarion File)
Kenai River king salmon fishing closed entirely for 3rd year

Kenai River king salmon were designated a stock of management concern in 2023.

The Kenai Peninsula College Main Entrance on Aug. 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
University of Alaska Board of Regents to meet in Soldotna

The last time the board met on the Kenai Peninsula was April 2012.

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education member Penny Vadla and student representative Emerson Kapp speak to the joint Alaska House and Senate education committees in Juneau, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Screenshot courtesy Gavel Alaska/KTOO)
KPBSD among dozens of districts to deliver in-person testimony to Alaska Legislature

Districts spotlighted programs already lost over years of stagnant funding that hasn’t met inflationary pressure.

Rep. Bill Elam, R-Nikiski, speaks during a town hall meeting hosted by his office at the Nikiski Community Recreation Center in Nikiski, Alaska, on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Education dominates Elam’s 1st town hall as state rep

Education funding dominated much of the conversation.

Kenai Middle School Principal Vaughn Dosko points out elements of a redesign plan for the front of the school on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Work soon to begin on Kenai Middle security upgrades

The security upgrades are among several key KPBSD maintenance projects included in a bond approved by borough voters in October 2022.

Most Read