A great Thanksgiving

This week North Forkers celebrated Thanksgiving at Sondreson Hall for the 40th time. It was tremendous to have Jon and Pat Elliot at this celebration to recall that first Thanksgiving dinner in 1975. They were among the 27 folks who attended. At that time, the Elliots were a young couple with small children who were newcomers to the North Fork and I don’t know of any others who were there and are still involved on the North Fork. The second year 40 people attended and thanks to those folks in 1975 and 1976, a great tradition was born.

North Fork Thanksgiving is more like the Pilgrim Thanksgiving than anywhere else that I know of. The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving was a community event with the neighbor Indians as invited guests. Same thing on the North Fork — everyone is invited and encouraged to bring visiting family and/or friends. A true community event not just a family event.

Adding to the special 40th Thanksgiving was a special recognition of North Fork resident Bonny Ogle. NFLA President Randy Kenyon presented her with a plaque thanking her for 30 years of community support. It was a complete surprise to Bonny and, of course, that was the intent.

In addition to her North Fork activities, Bonny is also on the Board of Directors of the Veterans’ Stand Down in Kalispell. Each year that group conducts a stand down in Libby the first weekend in October. As a result, Bonny misses the October NFLA business meeting. Since that is the last NFLA meeting of the year, the unanimous vote to recognize Bonny could be kept a secret from her until Thanksgiving. It worked and all North Forkers are thankful for Bonny being part of our special community.

And then there was the meal. As they have for years, Steve and Christina Berg did a bang up job of hosting the event. Also, as usual they had help in cooking the turkeys and ham, preheating the Hall, decorating, setting up the tables and managing all of the logistics. The meat and mashed potatoes are provided by the NFLA.

Of course, everyone is involved by bringing a side dish. In the end, three 18 pound turkeys and 18 pounds of ham were devoured as well as Joe Novak’s bucket of gravy and Trish Walsh’s deviled eggs, and I don’t know how many pies, salads, and other dishes including lefse. I counted 103 attendees and there were leftover desserts and a few slices of turkey. Everyone ate their fill with generous helpings and seconds for the bigger appetites.

All in all a tremendous Thanksgiving and the beginning of the last weekend of the general hunting season. The deer hunting has been the best in recent years and it seems that elk success is at least average or better. Woodsheds and root cellars should be stocked as we look forward to Christmas and winter weather.