A Time for Sharing Thanksgiving meal put on by W and N Enterprises 111917

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy

On Sunday afternoon, Nov. 19, 2017, the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center filled with hungry folks ready to partake of the food at the 14th annual A Time for Sharing, put on every year around Thanksgiving by Jim and Debbie Nennich and their W and N Enterprises.

With a new venue for the meal, people found it much easier to find a seat and the room was much less crowded.

According to Debbie Nennich, the room was jammed with folks from about 11:40 on, although they didn't start serving until noon.

"This year, we cooked 28 turkeys, 30 hams, 38 pans of stuffing, probably 700 pounds of potatoes, 1,200 rolls, eight full sheet cakes, four huge cobblers," Debbie Nennich told the Beat. "We also had tossed salad, fruit salad, cranberries, and homemade salsa."

The event drew more than 60 volunteers to help with serving, cleaning up empty plates and helping folks who needed help.

Debbie Nennich said she hoped she wasn't leaving out any of the groups that sent volunteers. They included the Gaffney-Oglesby Marine Corps League Detachment 1328, Beta Sigma Psi, Leavett Insurance, Alan Townsend Insurance, the St. Vincent di Paul confirmation group, firefighters from Whiskey Creek, Grant County Dispatch and the Walgreen's store manager Derek Ratcliff and his wife Wendy and their son Joshua."

She gave some history of the event. "The first year, 14 years ago, we had 450 people attend. Last year we had 1,500. We've probably already fed close to 1,000 already today. We set up 44 tables and 264 chairs. Because we have more room, we probably have 60 to 80 more chairs than we could fit in at the Knights of Columbus Hall (where it had been held in previous years)."