November 15 – During the Covid pandemic lockdown I spent a lot of time finding out about what volunteer programs I could help out with and “make myself useful” as my Mama used to say. I decided to focus on food programs and volunteered for the St. Anthony’s Food Pantry coordinated by Margie Granese. There are six of us (Maryann, Tinka, Johnny Frank, Johnny Pizzolato, me, and Margie who still volunteer there to this day, and we are working hard and preparing to distribute Thanksgiving boxes. There still is a great need for families in our community to get nutritious food and our numbers are near what they were at the height of the pandemic. The pantry operates the first and third Thursday of every month. It is possible just to do Thanksgiving and Christmas pantry boxes if you want. For more information you can call Margie at (845) 557-0583.

The other ongoing program I volunteer for is the Knights of Columbus Council 12571 “Food for Family and Friends Take Out Dinners”. These are wonderful home cooked meals that are distributed twice a month on the first and third Sundays either at St Ann’s Church in Shohola or St John Neumann in Lords Valley. If interested call or text Frank Fanelli at (347) 446-9636.

For Thanksgiving, the very marvelous Kesia Labuda and her volunteers are once again sponsoring a Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Thanksgiving Day November 24 from 12-3pm at the Lumberland Town Hall. It is dine in or take out. The dinner is traditional with roasted turkey and all the fixings including salad, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffing, a dinner roll and choice of a dessert. You can pre-order this free meal by calling Kesia at (845) 672-3896. Reservations for the dinner is recommended and they are asking by November 20. The Lumberland Town Hall is located at 1054 Proctor Road in Glen Spey.

As the fans of the Barryville Farmers Market know, the outdoor Market closed for the season last month. I am happy to report that the good folks that manage the Market will be holding a special Pre-Thanksgiving Market on Saturday, November 19 from 10am-1pm at the Town of Highland Senior Center on State Route 55 in Eldred. This Thanksgiving Holiday Market will be back in action with over seventeen amazing vendors and the wonderful local products we have come to know so well. Having this special Market certainly avoids having to shop at all of the large supermarkets that are crowded and not as well stocked with the freshest specialty items from our local farms we want to grace our Thanksgiving table. Shopping with our local farmers and purveyors helps keep our local economy, farms, and food chain strong-a lesson that we certainly learned during the height of the pandemic when there were serious food shortages throughout the country and these small family farms stepped in and saved the day. For more information about the vendors who will be participating in the Market go to the Barryville Farmers Market’s Facebook page.