Free Community Feast Planned for Dec. 25

Residents throughout the Conejo Valley are invited to join in the free Community Holiday Dinner on Christmas Day at Thousand Oaks High School.

More than 500 people of all ages are expected to attend the dinner from noon to 5 p.m. at the high school’s cafeteria, 2323 N. Moorpark Road, to enjoy the spirit of the holidays in the company of others.

“It’s completely open to the community,” said Donn Delson, a spokesman for Conejo Community Dinners Inc., a group of local charities and religious groups sponsoring the event, now in its third year.

“It’s for people who choose it as the place to be,” he said.

The all-you-can-eat dinner will include turkey with all the trimmings, cranberry sauce, rolls, potatoes and other vegetables, and pecan pie.

All dishes will be prepared by volunteers from throughout the Conejo Valley, including members of the temples Adat Elohim, Beth Haverim and Etz Chaim, city workers, and staff and teachers from local schools, Delson said.

Dinner will be served by students attending Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Westlake and Agoura high schools. Students at Colina Middle School and various Conejo Valley elementary schools have made decorations for the feast, which celebrates the theme “One Planet, One People.”

For those unable to drive, free transportation to and from the dinner will be provided by Thousand Oaks Cab Co., 495-3500. A bus will also take a number of residents from Leisure Village in Camarillo to the event, Delson said.

Tax-deductible donations are also being accepted to fund future community dinners for Conejo Valley residents. Contributions may be mailed to: Conejo Community Dinners Inc., c/o Los Robles Bank, 33 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.

For more information about the Community Holiday Dinner, call the Fitzgerald Center at 497-0159.