Making Thanksgiving a special one for Pahrump seniors

Crews from Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services responded en masse to the Pahrump Senior Center on Thanksgiving morning, but they were not responding to an emergency.

Their presence was made to deliver hot Thanksgiving dinners to scores of homebound senior citizens once again this year.

Senior Center site manager Anne Blankenship-Harris said the annual event, which included serving dinners at the facility was indeed a team effort.

“We had about 200 guests for dinner here at the center, and it’s been a great day,” she said. “We had an 11 a.m. seating and a noontime seating. I know they were close together, but it’s the best we can do. I’ve got staff that have been here since 2 a.m. cooking and preparing the meals. I wanted to get them out by 3 p.m., so they could get home and be with their families.”

As always, Thursday’s turkey dinner included all of the traditional side dishes, as well as pumpkin pie for dessert.

At least 97 area seniors were served at their homes.

“The fire department delivered Thanksgiving dinner to our Meals on Wheels clients for them to enjoy a hot dinner,” Blankenship-Harris said. “I really want to thank Fire Chief Scott Lewis and his crew from Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services for their help. They have been delivering the Thanksgiving dinner for many years. Everything that we put on the tables are also in the Meals on Wheels packages that went out.”

Aside from delivering the meals, the visits allowed fire crews and EMT’s to check on the welfare of the homebound seniors.

Their efforts were greatly appreciated and rewarded, Blankenship-Harris noted.

“Sometimes we don’t get them to come back to pick up meals for themselves, so we have pre-packaged three big boxes of full Thanksgiving meals for the fire department to thank them for everything they’ve done for us and the entire community,” she said.

As a portion of the meals is paid for by way of grants, the rest is provided by donations.

The Pahrump Senior Center, W. Basin Ave., is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Those who are not familiar with the senior center are always welcome to come by and have lunch with us from 11:30 to 12:30,” Blankenship-Harris said.

Pahrump Senior Center Site Manager Anne Blankenship-Harris is the spouse of the author of this story.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com, on Twitter: @pvtimes