THANKSGIVING POTLUCK, 1937

Well, dearest, don’t worry over us. We’ll make it all right. I don’t intend to do without food and decent clothes and plenty of light such as it is. Ina Dickson Dobson from the Homestead, 1935

Ina sat in her rocking chair before the dining room window watching the long evening shadows and counting her blessings. It had been a good Thanksgiving. She felt her heart overflow with gratitude for her many blessings – for her home and family and especially for the love of her children.

Thanksgiving morning had been foggy and chilly, but the sun soon came out and melted what little snow remained from a recent storm. Ina had risen early to make a pot of “Dobson Baked Beans,” a special recipe she had developed when her husband Jack and his twin brother June began producing bean crops on their adjoining farms on Russell Ridge in remote north central Idaho. The crops had been successful for a while, and the twins became known as “the Idaho Bean Kings.” Those days had passed, but she still liked to fix a pot of beans for special occasions, baking them long hours in a “slow” oven in her stoneware bean pot.  

Ina’s baked beans were eagerly awaited by the assemblage of between forty and fifty at the old Dickson Schoolhouse where the annual community Thanksgiving potluck was held. Most all the farm wives were good cooks, but the baked beans were Ina’s specialty.

And of course, since it was Thanksgiving, those who could brought a little extra to share – a pumpkin pie or loaf of bread or can of olives, etc. For some families, the Thanksgiving potluck was the only way a grand Thanksgiving feast might be had, and Ina was pleased to be part of the effort. Turkey was the meat of choice for Thanksgiving, but the farm folk at Gilbert had no turkeys. Instead, they shared what they did have – beef and chicken. Truth be told, Ina had never tasted turkey. No one left hungry, that’s for sure, and if anything was leftover, it was provided to the widows and widowers and those known to be struggling.

After the meal, it was announced that a special Thanksgiving program would be presented at the “other” schoolhouse (the Russell Ridge Schoolhouse), so those who could adjourned there to be entertained by singing and a fine reading by Mrs. James Weeks, after which they all returned to their homes feeling that the day had been well spent, even though they heard no sermon.

And now, thought Ina drowsily, it was time to prepare for Christmas in earnest. Oh! She did so love that Thanksgiving was early, giving her more time to organize and enjoy her Christmas doings. KW