RACINE — Inside Racine's Festival Hall, volunteers prepared for what has become an annual Thanksgiving tradition that feeds thousands of community members.

Thanksgiving Racine is anticipating as many as 4,000 people to be served this year, requiring hundreds of pounds of turkey and hundreds of volunteers working across Wednesday and Thursday.

"So here we are cutting turkey, manning the ovens, and getting ready for Thanksgiving on Thursday," said Van McNeil, a first time volunteer at the event.

The event was previously called "Dan and Ray Rendering Thanks," named after Danny Johnson and Ray Stibeck who started the tradition 16 years ago.

"It was originally supposed to be a year," said McNeil, who was tasked with leading the kitchen.

This year, the event is in a period of transition, as

See Full Page