OXFORD — The Church Women United (CWU) of Oxford and St. Joseph's Church have been sponsoring the annual Free Thanksgiving Dinner held at St. Joseph's Church for thirty-two years now. Some of the delicious food prepared included twelve turkeys, many pounds of squash and stuffing, and dozens of pies. This year, like every year, so many volunteers lent a hand to make the dinner a great success; and those people deserve thanks for this labor of love.

The CWU is very grateful to 33 volunteers, from all over Chenango County, who assisted in cooking, serving, delivering, and cleaning up on both Wednesday and Thursday. The home-made dinner, with all the trimmings, was served to 127 dine-ins and take-outs, as well as 45 home deliveries to shut-ins.

For those who do not know, the free Thanksgiving dinner in Oxford was started around 1980 by Delvin “Sully” Sullivan. Sully had a restaurant at 4 N. Canal Street, and he would open his doors to anyone alone or in need on this holiday. When he closed his doors, he asked the CWU to continue his mission of giving, and that is what they did.

Each year the food is prepared by church representatives and other individuals headed up by Kathy Knudsen with help from two generations of hers. Kathy (from Afton) has been doing this for all 32 years, joined by one of her daughters, Doddy Crispell, Kathy’s granddaughter Kaylee Miller, and, most recently Doddy’s six-year-old daughter, Daisy (from Guilford).