L.A. Thanksgiving : Holiday Full of Sharing, Tradition

For Jack Poet of Los Angeles, Thanksgiving was a festive dinner with his wife, children and grandson at the Pacific Dining Car.

For Gustavo Rivera of Los Angeles and his wife, Anna Maria, it was a trip to MacArthur Park with his niece and nephew, followed by a home cooked turkey dinner.

For Roberta Vasquez and her three young children, Thanksgiving was a walk up Main Street to a free meal at the Union Rescue Mission, where celebrities such as singer Pat Boone and actor Mike Farrell helped serve turkey with all the trimmings.

As people celebrated Thanksgiving Thursday, the tradition of families sharing and being together was evident, no matter what their circumstances.

‘To Be Together’

“It’s a time to be together,” Poet, a produce company owner, said, as five other family members and a friend waited for the $17 turkey-dinner special at the polished, distinctive Dining Car.

“For me it’s giving thanks for all the things we have,” 25-year-old Rivera, a warehouseman from El Salvador, said as he pushed a swing in MacArthur Park for nephew Oscar, 4. Though Thanksgiving is not a tradition in his native country, Rivera has adopted it in the 10 years he has been living in the United States, he added. “I’m grateful I have a job, that the family is OK.”

“It’s a special day,” Vasquez said, sitting on a bench and hugging her 11-month-old Juan as she fed him carrots and corn from a plastic spoon.

The tradition of giving was in evidence too, in big and little ways. On Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, in Hollywood and in the San Fernando Valley, nearly 20,000 free dinners were offered by the Salvation Army, the United Way and other organizations.

In Los Angeles, 10-year-old George Crespi made a special trip to MacArthur Park “to feed popcorn to the pigeons.” He sat on a bench with three boxes of food, surrounded by nearly 100 birds.

In Marina del Rey, Earl Chapin and his wife Clara held special aerobics classes at their exercise studio, The Body Shop, raising $1,200 for Mexican earthquake relief.

In eastern Los Angeles, the chance to aid Mexican disaster victims brought 450 participants to a fund-raising five-kilometer run at California State University, Los Angeles. “We were surprised,” dean of students David Boubion said of the student-faculty effort. “We weren’t sure how many we would get.” The event raised about $5,000.

Dottie Gray of Los Angeles and a friend, Mary Teeven, became two of more than 100 volunteers, a record number who turned out to help serve meals at the Union Rescue Mission. The mission itself served a record number of meals--3,656, which was 500 more than a year ago.

The two presided over one of the wooden tables, bringing trays of food, and then cleaning up before each successive wave of people sat down.

“Mary’s visiting me from back East,” Gray said. “We decided this is what we wanted to do today.” Pausing a moment to think about the reason for their choice of activity, she explained:

“We haven’t gone without a thing in our lives.”

Farrell Children Attend

Farrell brought his two children, Mike, 15, and Erin, 12, and wife Shelley Fabares, the actress, to the mission.

“I wanted them to see this,” he said. “I’ve been involved in refugee work around the world,” he added, as he prepared to serve a tray full of turkey dinners. “This is immediate and personal.”

For Maurice Wynn, his day of giving, by volunteering at the mission Thursday, turned into a family reunion of sorts as well.

It was the first time the Riverside resident had journeyed to Skid Row to help on Thanksgiving Day. While he was there, he bumped into two cousins, Caralyn Wynn of Los Angeles and Dorothy Wynn of the San Fernando Valley. They, too, were volunteers.

“I haven’t seen them since 1961,” Wynn said. “What a wonderful surprise.”