Hundreds Turn Out for Turkey, Chat and Music

Clad in a red-and-green Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, Joann Morrell leaned on her cane and eyed the dessert table: Would it be pumpkin pie or cheesecake to top off Christmas dinner?

The Thousand Oaks woman was one of about 400 people, mostly senior citizens without family in the area, who came to the cafeteria at Thousand Oaks High School on Tuesday for a free turkey dinner and a chance to chat with peers and listen to live holiday music.

“I read about it in the newspaper and also heard about it from people at my church,” Morrell said, just after deciding to skip the sweets. “I really wanted to be here.”

Several guests at the eighth annual Conejo Community Holiday Dinner also collected a plate of warm turkey, mixed vegetables and cranberries for a neighbor or friend too sick or incapacitated to leave home.

The holiday feast was open to all.

“We really try and give everyone a nice place to go on the holiday and a way for people to connect with the community,” said Wendy Erlanger, a member of the social action committee at Temple Adat Elohim, which sponsored the event.

While the temple doesn’t target any group for the dinner, the event generally attracts senior citizens from throughout the county. Thousand Oaks bus and cab services offered free rides to and from the dinner, and on Christmas, drivers shuttled dozens of people from various communities, including a busload from the Leisure Village retirement community near Camarillo.

“A lot of friends said they were coming, so we came,” said a smiling Norman Goodman of Camarillo, who was sitting at one of the decorated dinner tables with his wife of 51 years, Naoma.

“Besides, when you’ve been married this long, you go where your wife tells you to,” he said.

Surrounded by colorful paper wall hangings of Jewish and holiday symbols, diners sipped red punch and water and talked about their children, new aches and pains, and the season.

“I wanted to have lunch with someone else besides myself,” said Terence O’Neill of Moorpark, after finishing his coffee at a table with three other men. “It was very nice and the food was great.”

A meat shop in the San Fernando Valley donated dozens of cooked turkey breasts that were sliced and served to guests. Students from local schools made the decorations.

The dinner ran from noon to 4 p.m., with a steady stream of guests arriving throughout the day. Several volunteers staffed the campus parking lot, giving visitors directions to the cafeteria.

“It’s been a good day so far, and I think people are really enjoying themselves,” Erlanger said.