BonnerSprings.com

Edna Kloepper has had the same Thanksgiving Day plans for the past 15 years and this year will be no different.

Since its beginning, Kloepper, a long-time Bonner Springs resident and former school teacher, has been attending the city’s annual community Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing could keep her away from this year’s dinner, she said, which will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 27, at the First Christian Church, 148 Nettleton.

“I’ve been around here for 55 years. I know all the people and I enjoy visiting with the them,” Kloepper said of her reason for attending. “I think it’s a wonderful thing. I have it easy though; all I have to do is sit and eat.”

That isn’t the case for the volunteers of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which was formerly of Bonner Springs but is now located in Shawnee.

Bab Stilley, along with her sister, Mary Ann White, and her mother, Louise McTigue, spent all day Monday baking pumpkin and pecan pies to donate to the dinner.

The three women are part of the St. Therese’s Circle, a women’s group in the church that has participated in the pie donation for the dinner for the last 13 years. As the dinner has grown over the years, however, individual parishioners have also chipped in to help.

“It’s a good way to get family together and get into the holiday spirit,” Stilley said.

Sacred Heart donates 75 to 100 pies each year, which not only provides dessert during the dinner, but enough for every guest to take home a pie.

Most of the donated pies are handmade, with a few storebought ones thrown in. This year Stilley and her family are making pumpkin and pecan pies, but in the past they have made apple or chocolate. Stilley said the inspiration for her desire to make the pies comes from her aunt, Helen Tierney, of Dubuque, Iowa, who was famous at family reunions for her apple pies.

“It’s a fun family tradition,” Stilley said. “It pulls St. Therese’s Circle together as well as the rest of the parish to do a good community project. It’s the spirit of thanks and giving.”

Sacred Heart is just one of several organizations and individuals contributing to this year’s dinner. Bonner Springs resident Dorothy Klamm will be preparing five turkeys and Olivet Church of God in Christ will bring their “famous cornbread dressing.”

“It’s just something we all love doing,” said the dinner’s organizer LeAnne DeTar Newbert. “I think (Thanksgiving) is a very important holiday. Coming from a faith perspective, all of the things we do come out of a thankful heart. This is just one of those things to both show our appreciation, our love for God and our love of people who are alone.”

DeTar Newbert said her goal for the event is to make every dinner guest feel welcome and honored.

“We don’t want then to feel like they just didn’t have any other place to go,” she said. “It is really a privilege for us to serve these people and make them feel special on this day.”

For the homebound and those who prefer to have their dinner in their residence, a takeout service will be provided. De Tar Newbert said a reservation for that service would be appreciated so that volunteers can estimate how much to cook. To register for home delivery, call Vaughn-Trent Community Services at (913) 441-0461.

In the end, DeTar Newbert said that the event is all about community, which is apparent from the number of residents who help to make the event possible.

“The Bonner community takes care of its own,” she said. “It is a very loving community. It’s out of thankful hearts that we do this service.”

RECIPE

Throughout the years that Bab Stilley has been making pies for the Bonner Springs community Thanksgiving Dinner, she’s tried out several different pie crust recipes before stumbling upon her favorite.

“(Bab) is known for her homemade crust,” touted her sister, Mary Ann White.

The following recipe is used by Stilley and can be found at marthastewart.com.

Martha Stewart Pate Brisee (pie crusts)

Makes two 8-10 inch single pie crusts.

2 ? cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup unsalted butter (cut into small squares)

? to ? cup ice cold water

• Put the flour, salt, and sugar in bowl. Use a hand pastry blender to cut into the butter and flour until you have a mixture that looks like a coarse meal.

• Add half of the water and mix by hand. Add more water as needed until you can form a ball. Flour your hands and ball should not feel sticky. Divide in half and wrap both balls in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator to keep cool.

• On a lightly floured board or counter top, roll out the pastry to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Fold in half and then in half again to pick up and lay in pie pan. Trim the pastry using scissors to about 1 inch hanging over pie dish. Then tuck under the pie crust so it makes a thicker edge around the pie plate. Crimp the edges of the pastry.

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