It’s that time of year again.
We’ve arrived once more at that unique slice of the fall season when it’s as impossible to avoid hearing bad turkey puns as it is to avoid hearing Wham’s last Christmas playing everywhere during the holiday season.
Speaking of which, Whamageddon officially begins again on December 1.
Prepare yourselves, brave warriors.
But back to turkeys.
As Thanksgiving nears, with its customary culinary emphasis on Thursday afternoon feasts of roast Meleagris – a word that biology majors and journalists who look up weird stuff in dictionaries as the genus for “turkey,” the bird not the country – many local families will be sitting down to enjoy a traditional stuffing, cranberry, potatoes and Meleagris meal.
With or without gravy.
All silliness aside, there are plenty of people in and around Petaluma for whom a traditional Thanksgiving meal is a luxury, rather than an assumption. Which is why several projects have been launched to help the hungry and disadvantaged enjoy themselves and end their day with a full stomach.
In all of these cases, there are ways that you can even help.
Here are some of them.
Give the Editor the bird
We couldn’t avoid that particular joke, since it’s the casually dubbed name of the annual charity effort founded last year by the pun-loving Press Democrat managing editor John D’Anna.
The goal is to raise enough money over the next few weeks to purchase 3,000 turkeys for the Redwood Empire Food Bank, which last year helped distribute the 2,000 turkeys purchased through the effort, and since then has only seen the need for food assistance grow in Sonoma County.
At $25 a bird, it means D’Anna hope to see donations of $75,000, and has established a friendly, accessible (and pun-packed) donation page where charitable folks can contribute. It’s at refb.org/givethebird.
Those who donate $100 or more will be entered into a raffle with come cool prizes, like a private wine tasting with former Press Democrat wine columnist Peg Melnik, or beers with a local celebrity (to be announced).
Petalauma Turkey Trot
Sponsored by Mary Dooley of Petaluma’s MAD Architecture, the annual Petaluma Turkey Trot is a fundraiser benefiting the Redwood Empire Food Bank. The event – a casual four-mile run-walk-saunter around and through Ellis Creek Park – is cosponsored by the Aqus Foundation and the City of Petaluma.
Much more than a race, the Thanksgiving morning event has grown into a massive community “happening,” one in which people dress up in outrageous outfits, meet and greet each other on the trail, and generally have big family fun to kick off the day.
The trot begins at 8:30 a.m., with parking offered at the nearby Kaiser Permanente facility. Registration is required to participate, and can be done online at Madarc.com/turkey-trot-petaluma.
1,000 Petaluma Bowls
During this beloved annual community-wide event, sponsored by the Petaluma People Services Center, 1,000 ceramic bowls are purchased, painted and donated by local folks, then auctioned off at a major day-after-Thanksgiving event (with soup, naturally) at Hotel Petaluma. Bowl-painting parties have become a tradition, with families, clubs, churches and other groups organizing the events. To participate, or make a donation, visit Petaluma People Services Center. The soup feast and auction takes place on Nov. 29 at Hotel PEtaluma, 205 Kentucky St.
Pumpkin Drive
Though not technically a “turkey drive,” it’s possible that turkeys will be among the animals who benefit from a local effort to collect uncarved, leftover pumpkins. The good-tasting gourds will be distributed to local animal rescues to be fed to the critters who live there. The donated pumpkins will be picked up by calling Gabrielle at (707) 326-2556, now or after Thanksgiving.
