How do you bring people together but keep them apart?

That’s the challenge Trinity Bible Church is up against as it plans this year’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner. Organizers still plan to hold the annual dinner, which brings out hundreds of people every year, but this year they have to contend with social distancing.

“We’re going to have to spread people out a little bit,” said Doug Siggins, pastor for Trinity.

Trinity is taking the helm this year, and the organizers have been consulting with Park County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin, who said that, with some social distancing measures, the event could still safely proceed.

Last year, approximately 700 people attended the meal, and with the pandemic continuing to spread, the organizers are having to balance that goal of fellowship with the needs of safety.

The current plan is to hold the dinner in four blocks of time, with people coming according to their last name. That will keep the event from breaking the safety limit of 170 people at a time inside Heart Mountain Hall at the Park County Fairgrounds.

“It seems to grow every year,” Siggins said of the Thanksgiving dinner, but the pandemic might decrease the number of participants.

Organizers are not going to be checking IDs at the door or anything, so if a family of Smiths brings a Jones along, it’s not going to be a problem. Siggins said they’re not going to require attendees to wear a mask, unless they want to, but servers will be masked and gloved throughout the event. They’ll also be sanitizing tables and chairs between groups.

Every year, there are people who can’t attend, many of them elderly, and volunteers provide delivery for those who can’t make it in person. This year, there will be those with health concerns who may also want to pick their meal up.

Siggins said those options will be available, considering the circumstances, but organizers don’t want to lose sight of the greater purpose of the event.

“Our objective was never just to serve a big meal. It was always to get people together, and care for people who are here alone in town,” the pastor said.

While safety is important, the level of isolation people have experienced this past year means the need for that fellowship is even greater.

“We’re hoping that people will come as a family,” Siggins said.

The event started out as a relatively small affair in the early 1990s. At the time, the original organizers were thinking of Northwest College students. Some of them, especially the international students, had no way to go home for the holidays. By putting on a meal, the organizers hoped to provide some fellowship and help them feel part of the community.

It’s since expanded to the wider Powell community, and churches take turns every two or three years hosting it. Siggins believes — “if memory serves” — it’s been held every year since that first one, but whatever the case, that community spirit continued on every year it was held.

“It’s a means to get people together to enjoy time with their neighbors,” Siggins said.

This year, Siggins said, they’re going to have to be more firm in turning volunteers away.

“That’s the most complicated part — to get people to stop volunteering when their shift is over,” Siggins said.

Powell has a giving spirit, so the organizing church has usually had too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak, as people step up to help out.

Siggins said part of the reason is people have a hard time receiving without giving back. The organizers also end up with more monetary donations than they need to cover the costs. So after the event, they have to decide what charity to donate to. Siggins wants to encourage people this year to feel more comfortable just enjoying a holiday meal with the community.

The details are a bit uncertain right now, but at this time, the event is a go. As Thanksgiving Day gets closer, organizers will get the word out about the times of the four groups and any other necessary information.