Pasadena’s Thanksgiving Dinner in the Park Faced Adversity Before COVID-19

True, there has never been, and hopefully never will be again a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.

With CNN reporting more than 256,000 killed, and over 12 million people infected nationwide, Pasadena and the rest of the country has been forced to conform to all manner of mitigating measures, including, but not exclusive to wearing masks, staying six feet away from others, and staying at home with family members only, and only if they also share the air you breathe in the same home.

One potential superspreader event, the Rose Parade, has been canceled for the first time since World War II.

Another is the annual Doo Dah Parade, which has been forced to package the antics of its wacky participants into an online video presentation.

And yet another is Dinner in the Park on Thanksgiving Day, an event organized and put on by Union Station Homeless Services in Central Park, with a small army of volunteers serving hot meals to thousands of homeless men, women, children, seniors, very low-income families, and those with no place to go during the holidays.

But much like Doo Dah and the Tournament of Roses Association, which is also presenting a televised alternative to the live parade on New Year’s Day, Union Station has also pivoted in place, making this year’s dinner a pickup-only event.

And, like the Tournament of Roses, this is not the first time Union Station’s 50-year-old signature event has been threatened with closure,

In 2013, the city Health Department discovered that the tradition of dropping off home-cooked food by local residents violated state law. Liza Frias, then the city’s Environmental Health Division manager, ruled the nonprofit would no longer be able to accept home-cooked food from community members, as that longstanding tradition violated the California Retail Food Code, which regulates how foods are produced for public consumption.

Since the event was held in a public park, city officials worried that the city would be at risk if someone eating at the event fell ill and sued for damages.

Frias said at the time that the code required that any food that is made available to the public must come from an approved and regulated facility, adding there was no way of knowing if home-cooked foods had been properly prepared and transported.

Then-Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard reluctantly agreed, saying the cherished city tradition required compliance and enforcement.

In 2018, Pasadena’s former Health Director Michael Johnson explained that Frias made the correct decision.

“A mild illness could become a major illness for individuals that are already challenged,” said Johnson, “so making sure that the food is provided is safe and healthy and in compliance with the state laws is extra important.”

Union Station complied, ultimately stopped accepting donated home-cooked food following the Health Department’s order, and community members have since been encouraged to donate items from Union Station’s grocery wishlist, including green beans, mushroom soup, cranberry sauce, corn cans, instant mashed potatoes, turkey or chicken gravy, Italian salad dressings, and bottled water.

And today, the Thanksgiving Dinner in the Park tradition continues, only this time in an altogether different format.

Due to the COVID-19 regulations prohibiting large gatherings, this year Union Station is serving Thanksgiving meals in three ways:

1.) Distributing “All the Fixings” Thanksgiving meal supply boxes a week before the holiday, Nov. 18, for clients to cook at home. 

2.) Distributing prepared Thanksgiving meals the day before the holiday, Nov. 25, for reheating at home. 

3.) Hosting a private dinner on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, for the residents at the Union Station Adult Center and Family Center.

“It’s definitely not what we envisioned, but we’re still excited that we’re going to be able to provide folks with a Thanksgiving meal,” Amanda Green, senior director of operations at Union Station, told Pasadena Now.

In typical years since 2013, 250 turkeys were cooked and prepared, then served by dozens of volunteers, feeding more than 1,000 people attending the dinner in Central Park.

This year, “We’ve partnered with Centerplate at the Pasadena Convention Center who is helping us cook all of our 250 turkeys and we have some key volunteers who are helping our staff in the kitchen.”

“It is different this year. Folks will have the opportunity to pick up all the fixings and a frozen turkey so that they can make their own meals at home if they have access to a kitchen, and a desire to cook,” Green said. 

“We have been incredibly fortunate to receive really large in-kind donations from community members, collecting boxes of stuffing and mashed potatoes and cans of cranberry sauce and corn,” Green said. 

“We do have folks that are newly housed and would really love the opportunity to make their own meal at home. So that’s really a great opportunity for folks that again have access to a kitchen and a desire to cook,” she said.

For more information, visit unionstation.org or call (626) 240-4550.