A line of volunteers prepares plates of food during the City of Good Hope’s 2019 Community Thanksgiving Meal.

Good Hope Mayor Jerry Bartlett can’t quite remember how long the city has kept up the yearly tradition of serving the community a free Thanksgiving meal. But he does know it’s an annual event that’s only gained in momentum, despite a momentary pause to let COVID-19 pass by.

“We started this some years back, and now we’ve been doing it a long time,” he says as the city prepares to plate up a traditional Thanksgiving meal (with all the fixings) ahead of its annual lunchtime meal on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

“We started with about 250 plates the first year, doubled it by the next year, and now I think we’ve ordered enough food for about 1,400 meals. People will be lined up at 9:30 a.m., probably, to start getting their plates this year. It’s a big thing for us, and it’s an all-volunteer effort.”

From 11 a.m. until the food runs out, the Good Hope High School lunchroom will serve as a locus of holiday activity as local Boy Scouts staff the event’s drive-through (which Bartlett estimates about 75 percent of guests will take advantage of). “Everybody else, though, will come inside and eat, and we do our best to take care of everyone,” he adds. “We have school kids helping out, which gets them their community service points; we have council members bringing their families; we’ll have people we might not even know — all you have to do is show up, and we’ll do the rest.”

He’s right about that: Good Hope’s Thanksgiving meal is a completely cost-free event, one of three community dinners (alongside a Christmas feast and a back-to-school bash) that the city puts on throughout the year. “We never charge a nickel for any of our dinner events that we have each year,” he says. “We just want people to come and visit with each other and be a part of their community.”

Not long after Thanksgiving, the city will turn its attention toward the Christmas season, inviting local businesses, organizations, and individuals to take part in Good Hope’s annual Christmas Tree Tinsel Trail at the city park. Reserving a 10’ x 10’ space at the park costs $25 if you provide your own tree, or a flat $100 if you’d like the city to prepare the tree on your behalf for the same space.

The trees will remain on display from the Tinsel Trail’s Dec. 3 setup deadline all throughout the month of December, making for a festive park setting ahead of the city’s other big Yuletide celebration — the Christmas Parade & Christmas in the Park event, slated this year for Dec. 9 with a parade kickoff at noon.

After the parade, the park will serve as a gathering ground for guests to tour the Tinsel Trail and let the kids enjoy the season’s greetings at the park, with Santa and plenty of fun Christmas-themed activities all going strong from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. (though guests are welcome to stick around and enjoy the lights after dark).

The parade, says Bartlett, is open to anyone who wants to take part: “If you’ve got a neat antique car or truck, a horse or buggy, or anything fun, just bring it out and line up,” he invites.

“We’ll have horses and riders, fire engines and classic cars — all kinds of things that people dress up and drive. The parade starts down at the football field and then passes right in front of city hall, and then ends up by the basketball court. We’ll have chili and corn chips, drinks, and a cookie — and all of that, like the Thanksgiving meal, costs nothing for anyone to enjoy.”

The parade lineup will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 9 ahead of its 2 p.m. start time. For more information about taking part in the Tinsel Trail or the parade, contact the city at 256-739-3757.