Photo by Deb Gau Karen Sweetland, Pat Drown and Carol Drown were among the volunteers who gathered Tuesday night to peel potatoes for the annual community Thanksgiving dinner in Marshall. The free meal will be held Thursday at Grace Life Church.

MARSHALL — Peeling more than a hundred pounds of potatoes might sound like a daunting task. But volunteers helping with the annual community Thanksgiving meal in Marshall say it’s actually fun.

“People just chat and have a good time,” said Pat Drown.

Tuesday evening wasn’t any different, as volunteers gathered in the True Life School cafeteria with a supply of spuds.

The free community Thanksgiving meal will be held Thursday at Grace Life Church in Marshall. Meals will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church.

Teamwork is a big part of what makes the free Thanksgiving meal possible, said organizer Teri Hively. Community members help by doing everything from making pies and desserts, to setting tables and decorating in the sanctuary at Grace Life Church.

“It takes all kinds of people,” Hively said. “It makes things flow so much more easily.”

Some volunteers have also come back to help year after year, she said.

“Some of these people are so committed. It’s fun to reconnect with them,” Hively said.

Over the years, a group of volunteers have regularly donated potatoes for the meal and met up to peel them, Hively said.

Drown said she’s worked peeling potatoes for the community Thanksgiving for several years.

“There was a group of us that helped for a few years,” Drown said. While the group has changed over the years, there are still regular volunteers who have continued to meet up.

“We gather other friends to help,” she said. The volunteers each donate around 10 to 20 pounds of potatoes.

Drown estimated that volunteers usually peel about 200 pounds of potatoes in preparation for the Thanksgiving meal. But when you have a crew of 10 or 12 people working, “it goes really fast,” she said.

Doris Cool said she had volunteered to help with the potato peeling once, and it was a good experience.

“I thought it was a great idea,” Cool said. “It was fun. We just sat and visited, and peeled potatoes.”

Volunteers said it was good to be able to help support the community Thanksgiving meal.

“You have a good feeling doing it,” Drown said of volunteering. But the work volunteers did peeling potatoes was really a small part of what it took to put the whole meal together, she said.

Both Drown and Cool said organizers like Hively and Kelly Deutz worked very hard to make the meal possible.

“They do a phenomenal job,” Drown said.

Area Thanksgiving meals

In addition to Marshall, several area communities will also be serving Thanksgiving meals on Thursday. Below is a listing of meal times and locations for Thanksgiving day:

Canby

A community Thanksgiving meal will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church. A free-will donation is being accepted, with proceeds going to the Prairie 5 Food Shelf. Dine-in, takeout and delivery options are available. Call 507-537-4250.

Minneota

A free community Thanksgiving meal will be served at noon at Bethel Fellowship Church. Reservations are preferred, but not required. Call Tom at 507-872-6498 or 507-828-1637. If transportation is needed to get to the church, it can be provided by calling David Myrvik at 507-828-7433.

Tracy

A free community Thanksgiving meal will be served at noon at the Tracy Alliance Church. For questions, or information about carry-out meals, email tracyalliance@gmail.com, or call 507-629-3455.

Tyler

A community Thanksgiving meal will be served Thursday at the Tyler Alliance Church. Seating begins at 11:30 a.m. Reservations by Nov. 20 are helpful, but not required. Call 507-247-3824 with questions.