MOUNT VERNON – This Thanksgiving, Mount Vernon resident Stuart Washington will be cooking for 1,500 people.
For the last five years, Washington has supervised the Thanksgiving meal at his church, Lakeholm Church of the Nazarene. But that was usually for a much smaller group of about 370 people.
This year, community dinners in Mount Vernon had to be canceled because of COVID-19. Washington volunteered to oversee the cooking for a much larger drive-through, takeout dinner. Lakeholm, the Knox County chapter of the Byron Saunders Foundation, Free Community Thanksgiving Dinner Mount Vernon, Interchurch Social Services and The Salvation Army are all working together on this year’s combined event.
The meals will be distributed on Wednesday, Nov. 25, from noon until 2 p.m. at Lakeholm, 16001 Glen Road; and at The Salvation Army, 206 E. Ohio Ave., from 2 until 3 p.m.
Washington talked to the Mount Vernon News.
How did you become involved in cooking Thanksgiving dinner at Lakeholm?
I started off earlier in my life in food service and after college went into a career in technology. But I’ve always loved feeding people. I continued to do large catering events for friends and family, weddings and things like that. When the person in charge of the Thanksgiving meal at Lakeholm stepped down, it seemed like a natural fit for me. I wanted to help celebrate the wonderful season and all of our blessings.
Can you talk about how the drive-through dinner came about?
There are a lot of events that can’t take place this year because of COVID-19. The drive-though can take the place of those, at least temporarily. All of us are working together to make this work.
What’s on the menu?
Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing, green beans and corn. The meals will be in plastic, microwave-safe to-go containers, or you can take it out of the container and heat it up in an oven.
What’s the trick for cooking for this many people?
Organization and not being intimidated by the quantity. You have to look at one thing at a time and not get overwhelmed.
Does Lakeholm have a commercial kitchen?
Yes. We have commercial refrigerators, freezers, a double commercial oven, stoves, a commercial dishwasher/sanitizer— all the things you need to make a large meal.
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