Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
WAYNE NASI, left, adds some food to his plate while his wife, Bridgette patiently waits for Iron County Sheriff's Department Mike Randall to drizzle piping hot gravy over a heaping plate of food at the Kimball Fire Department turkey dinner on Sunday.
By BRYAN HELLIOS
KIMBALL Wis. - The community center in Kimball was stuffed with turkey and packed with people on Sunday afternoon with people supporting the Kimball's Fire Department 37th annual turkey dinner.
John Smith, fire chief for the department, said preparation for the diner takes weeks of planning.
"We did 43 turkeys, 900 frozen pounds of turkey," he said.
Along with the turkey, he said they used 600 pounds of potatoes, six cases of corn, six cases of beans and three cases of cranberries. The bread for the stuffing was donated by local businesses.
The fundraiser helps raise money for the fire department to buy turn-out gear and possibly a thermal imagining camera, he said.
Smith said events like the dinner help the community get to know members from the fire department and brings people to the community center.
"The community helps us raise money to buy equipment to off-set the tax roles and help the town out with the budget," he said.
Barb Dianich's said her husband was one of the original organizers for the event and she has been volunteering right along with him since the beginning.
Her task this year was to keep the coffee pots brewing. She expected to fill an estimated thousand cups of coffee.
People from across the region attended the diner. She said they tell her "they would not miss it."
She said help from the community makes this a popular event, sure to continue for years to come.
"We could not do this without the volunteer help," Dianich said.
