On November 28, 2019, we returned to Cafe Parizade in Durham, NC for the 21st year for our Thanksgiving Feast. We continued to have the talents of Igor Gacina, manager, Chef Robert Adams, Pastry Chef Lou Mincey, and their excellent staff working with us. We continued to offer an extensive fully plant-based gourmet menu. Again, most of the choices were soy- and/or gluten- free, and we ensured that the menu had several items, labeled, with no added fat. We were thankful to Smiling Hara for their generous donation of 110 pounds (valued at over $1000) of their outstanding tempeh, which Chef Robert used in a variety of dishes.

In addition, the Monday before Thanksgiving, we had a pre-Thanksgiving Feast at the all-vegan, soy-free, gluten-free and primarily organic Vegan Flava Cafe in Chapel Hill, NC, with food also from adjacent Soul Cocina. Both events were covered by at least three area television news programs (please let me know if you saw and recorded any of the coverage - I missed the airing of the stories.) The new Plant-Based Network that launched on November 1, 2019 also did some filming; you can see a video montage that they put together. We also had a photo booth for the first time; it was a lot of fun and I even got to be photographed with and hold our youngest attendee, just a precious five days old (we had several attendees in their nineties, as well!).

Thanks to webmaster Ken Guttman's excellent work, reservations seemed to have again gone smoothly. I always feel badly turning people away and only wish that we had space for everybody who wanted to attend. Altogether, we were filled to capacity with 80 people at Vegan Flava Cafe and 618 at Cafe Parizade, for a total of 698. We believe that the 618 people at the extended Thanksgiving seating was again the country's largest vegetarian Thanksgiving.

We again had a big raffle. Combining the raffles for the two events, we had about 80 items worth about $5000, including free vitamins for all guests donated by Pure Vegan worth over $18,000!

We had a moment of silence at each event to remember any missing family or friends, or sad times, that we might have had this past year and gave thanks for all of our own rich gifts. I reflected on the loss of Ana Traywick, Anand Deoskar, Dallas Foster Sr, and Pamela Bennett. Pamela passed away earlier in the year of cancer; she was a well-loved model and flight attendant who always had a big smile and positive attitude. The others all passed away shortly before Thanksgiving. Many will remember Ana, a long-time TVS member who, along with her husband Jack, hosted lovely potlucks at their home in Pittsboro, NC. Anand was my wife's cousin; he passed away suddenly and left a wide community who loved him for his spiritual leadership and kind, non-judgmental support. Dallas also passed away suddenly (in an automobile accident); my good friend Dallas Jr, his son, recounts stories of how the Sr gentleman was brought up on a farm. His parents didn't want him to get higher education so he ran away from home, got his education, and became an important community member.

Many thanks to the many volunteers who helped make TVS Thanksgiving happen. The event couldn't happen without our webmaster Ken Guttman, who again put together an effective lottery-based event website. Josie Sianez and Kathy Borkowski called for raffle prizes.

With apologies in advance to people I am forgetting, I thought that I'd acknowledge volunteers. Thanks to Brian Donlon for setting up an excellent, extensive set of free literature; Lisa & Noelle Finlay, Kathy & Linda Borkowski, Christa Evans, Tom Mullaney, Therese Garrett, Lance Hathaway, Emily Samfield, and Emily Brewer for checking people in; Johnny Gregory, Helene Greenberg, and Nate Hathaway for selling raffle tickets; Josie Sianez for organizing the raffle; and many folks who helped distribute raffle prizes, including Carrie Kendrick, Gail Ross, Stacy Gunter, Warren Sanders, and Sangeeta Godbole. A number of children helped draw raffle tickets, too! Many thanks to all who helped to make these events happen and happen so smoothly! Thanks go to the professionals at the restaurants, as well, of course.