The Thankful Serve, Receive Blessings

As rich and poor mingled in a yearly ritual at the Midnight Mission on skid row Thursday, it was hard to tell which considered themselves more blessed.

“It does me more good than anyone else,” said actor Dick Van Dyke, wearing an apron and a chef’s hat as he served Thanksgiving dinner at the mission. “Many people are a couple of checks from the street.”

Nearby, at Genesis 1, a sanctuary for the homeless and disadvantaged near downtown Los Angeles, dinner guest Dave DelBianco said he was “thankful for my wonderful family and the two hands God gave me.”

Another guest at Genesis 1, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed gratitude for “my sanity and family.”

Scores of volunteers counted their blessings as they piled food on trays and guided guests to their seats at the Midnight Mission, where turkey and trimmings were served to about 900 people.

“It helps me realize how fortunate I am to have family under one roof,” actor Kevin Dobson said. “It makes me feel whole, invigorated. It gives me faith and hope.”

The dining room was noisy and chaotic as guests approached the two actors not only for meals but for autographs.

More than 150 volunteers tried to keep order in the meandering line of people waiting to get into the dining room, many of them families.

Volunteers had spent the entire week preparing more than 100 turkeys, 300 pounds of stuffing, 250 pounds of yams, and 250 pumpkin pies for their 84th annual Thanksgiving Day dinner on Los Angeles Street in downtown Los Angeles. Volunteers even handed out packs of cigarettes at the end of the meal.

At the Fred Jordan Mission’s annual “Feast in the Streets,” guests received an unexpected present. Through L.A Cellular’s Keep in Touch Station, they received free five-minute phone calls to anywhere in the United States, Canada, Mexico or Central America.

For a woman who gave her name as Juana, that call went to family in Guatemala whom she hadn’t heard from since Hurricane Mitch devastated the area. She spoke to her sister.

Her family was fine, but Juana cried anyway.

For others around the Southland, Thanksgiving Day meant finding blessings in everyday work.

At West Covina’s Fire Department, engineer Ken Stowe juggled his duties with cooking a Thanksgiving meal for his eight colleagues.

Stowe, a 38-year veteran, spent much of the morning in the station’s kitchen, sauteing onions and garlic with butter for the stuffing, preparing candied yams, mashing potatoes and stirring gravy.

Dinner was only delayed by 90 minutes as Stowe responded to two emergency calls mid-preparation.

A similar scene was repeated at Fire Station 49 at the Los Angeles Harbor, where firefighter Bob DeCuir cooked for his 13 co-workers and their extended families--about 80 in all.

“The food is fabulous,” said Marilyn Muelher, whose husband, Steve, has been at the station for seven years. “I like getting to see all the families. It’s a good way to get to know the other guys’ families,” she said.

There was, of course, always the chance that the next bell wouldn’t be for dinner.

“It’s not unusual,” said firefighter Doyle Spencer. “It usually happens when dinner comes out.”

Two years ago, the crew responded to a fire at Harbor City School just at turkey time. They were back in an hour, and dinner was still waiting.

At the Monterey Park Police Department, watch commander George Hicks was missing dinner with 30 relatives to deal with the day’s business.

“What we do is real important--us, the Fire Department, the hospital,” said the 24-year veteran. “If something terrible is happening, we’re there.”

Times staff writers Agnes Diggs, Caitlin Liu, Nancy Trejos and Lisa Weiss contributed to this story.