Pembine community gathers for Thanksgiving

PEMBINE, Mich. (WLUC) - Inside the Grace Lutheran Church in Pembine Wisconsin, dozens of people gathered for a free Thanksgiving dinner. The Pembine Area Christians have hosted the meal for the last 23 years.

Organizer Kristine McClellan says they started preparing the meal earlier in the week.

“We had probably 10 people helping prepare the meal yesterday,” said McClellan. “We used Lake Lungren Bible Camp Kitchen to prepare everything. More people coming in today to set things up here.”

The turkey, stuffing, pie was free to anyone who stopped by, providing food and a family atmosphere for the diners. Pembine Area Christians Director Chris McLain has organized the Thanksgiving dinner for the last 10 years.

He says the meals go to people all over northern Wisconsin and upper Michigan.

“We call ourselves Pembine Area Christians, we really service Beecher, Dunbar, and Pembine,” said McLain. “Including people from Iron Mountain and even people from south of here who come to the meal.”

Meals were also delivered to almost a dozen residents who couldn’t make the trip to the church.

McLain says the meals wouldn’t exist without the support of the Pembine community.

“This isn’t just a community meal, this is a community donated meal in many ways,” said McLain. “So many people are providing the funding for this or donating; you know we had all the potatoes donated, all 28 pies were donated.”

Almost 150 meals would be served or delivered.