The last-minute rush to prepare for Thanksgiving is here.
With some gatherings larger this year, shops and restaurants were busy Wednesday serving customers picking up orders ahead of Thanksgiving meals. The line at the Honey Baked Ham Company in Dallas stretched outside its shop, where Joyce Jackson picked up her ham.
“I’ve been coming here for the last 15 years, and I love it,” Jackson said. “This is a short line today. Right now? This is a short line. There has been a line where it was going around the fence and around the building.”
Cake Bar experienced a similar demand over the past few days. The business is owned by Alexandra German’s mother. German said customers are recommended to place their orders 48 hours in advance.
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“We really do put love into our cake, and we try to make each customer’s experience special,” she said. “Yesterday, we had like…1,500 customers all day. Staff, we only had like 12.”
Theresa Medford with Dixie House Café said at times, takeout orders outpace their dine-in numbers. There was a steady flow of customers at their E. Lancaster Ave. location in Fort Worth on Wednesday.
“My pie cook has been up for two days all night long baking all the pies,” Medford said. “We probably did 90 pies to 100 pies here today. Just today.”
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While many businesses will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Mission Arlington will be busy. They’re expecting to feed about 6,000 families this year, according to executive director Tillie Burgin.
“We have cooked meals for those who don’t have stoves. We have uncooked meals and the thawing turkey [if] they do have a stove and can cook,” Burgin said. “We are now putting turkeys in places where they need to be, boxes in trucks, so they can be handed out. Getting things ready in the streets, so parking won’t be an issue for folks.”
Volunteers are still needed to help distribute the meals on Thanksgiving morning.
“Usually, we’re finished by noon if we have enough volunteers. People want to do more, because it’s such a blessing to give,” Burgin said. “I think when they go back home, they talk to their kids about what it means to give and to think about someone else who doesn’t have anything. It’s an educational thing for them. Not only is it a joy and blessing, they feel that. When they sit down at their Thanksgiving table, they pray for those families. I promise they will do that.”
Volunteers are welcome to arrive at Mission Arlington by 8 a.m. Thursday to help with distributions. They are located at 210 W. South St. in Arlington. For more information, call: 817-277-6620.
