Plan ahead for Thanksgiving

It’s not every community that has the option to hear a mayor-elect play a grand piano during a Thanksgiving dinner at an elegant seaside ballroom.

But Ferndale’s mayor-elect Jon Mutchler says he will be entertaining guests — Billy-Joel style, perhaps — from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Semiahmoo Resort’s ballroom in Blaine, playing classical, pop, jazz, and show tunes.

Mutchler has been playing the Yamaha Grand at the resort since 1996, he says.

“I love playing the piano,” he says, “but more so playing for groups of people. Each performance is different, based on the audience, setting and interests. I am grateful for the rich musical background I’ve had, and the robust musical life I’ve had here in Whatcom County.”

And the dinner’s nothing to sneeze at, with butter-basted turkey, pan-seared scallops, a plethora of salads, and several choices of desserts (including chai cheesecake).

(Mutchler says he plans to eat his Thanksgiving dinner with his family at 5 p.m.)

If a longtime, casual tradition is more your style, the Old Town Cafe’s annual community dinner will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 316 W. Holly St. Volunteers organize, prepare and serve a complete Thanksgiving meal to the public, with all of the food donated by local farmers, churches, unions, businesses and individuals.

Chuck Dingee is coordinating the live music, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dingee says he came to Bellingham in 1975 with the now-defunct Obscure Traveling Band and they were flat-broke on Thanksgiving Day.

“We scraped together enough change to get some coffee at the Old Town Cafe,” he says. “We sat at the booth, and the waitress asked if we wanted the special. We explained that we just had barely enough for coffee, and she kept persisting that we should get the special. Finally we asked what the special was —free turkey dinner! That is one of the reasons I fell in love with Bellingham.”

Diane Brainard, current owner of the cafe, says that when she bought Old Town in 1995, she knew that Thanksgiving was part of the deal.

“I had been working at the cafe for six years and I knew what was involved,” she says. “The volunteers start calling in August. They carry the tradition year after year. Many of the same people volunteer every year.”

“It started in 1962 with, I imagine, just a few turkeys. My first year we cooked 12 and now we are up to 28 turkeys, 150 pounds of mashed potatoes, 150 pounds of yams, stuffing made from 40 loaves of Breadfarm bread from Skagit County, and more. The Longshoremen’s union has donated the turkeys every year for at least 25 years, maybe more. The parishioners of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church make 40 pies and 20 side dishes every year. Many other individuals and groups donate more pies and side dishes.”

Brainard uses about 75 volunteers. The two nights before Thanksgiving, about 15 people gather to prepare everything —that’s the fun part, she says.

On Thanksgiving, about 40 people work the two shifts, and toward the end of the day several of her employees volunteer to come in and “put the kitchen back together.”

“I think of the Old Town’s Thanksgiving as a community meal,” she says. “We serve everyone and anyone from my regular customers to students to the people who live on the street. I’ve seen many families and often immigrant families who have never had an American Thanksgiving dinner before. I really like that.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Plan ahead for Thanksgiving."