By KRISTI MAYFIELD

kmayfield@oakdaleleader.com

Comforting holiday aromas of turkey and mashed potatoes wafted throughout the Escalon Community Center on Thanksgiving as the Escalon Ministerial Association, EMA, hosted the annual community dinner. More than 40 volunteers were on hand to serve a delicious holiday meal filled with all of the favorites including turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans and some traditional pumpkin pie.

Eric and Martha Leer, residents of Escalon for more than 50 years, were on hand to welcome folks in to the Community Center on Nov. 28.

“We love doing this,” Eric Leer said. “We’re a part of this community and we love seeing our friends.”

Casey Ryan, Youth Pastor at Heritage Church in Escalon, along with many volunteers from the community, came together to organize and plan this festive gathering.

“We want everyone to feel welcome and know that they have a place to come and enjoy themselves, even if they didn’t plan on it or their plans changed, they are all welcome here,” said Ryan.

This year, the EMA brought the focus back to in-person dining, encouraging people to come share the holiday meal and enjoy time to visit.

With volunteers from many congregations and the community in general serving, setting up, cleaning and so on, they were able to serve the full course, traditional Thanksgiving dinners to more than 130 people. Organizers said they also had enough food to send some home so many folks could continue enjoying the Thanksgiving leftovers throughout the holiday weekend.