As a somewhat recent transplant to Sonoma County, there are few things I miss about Arizona. But one is a quaint tradition in which public safety officials gather the local media every Thanksgiving … and ask them to warn the public of the dangers of deep-fat turkey fryers.
These gatherings, often sponsored by the oven-manufacturing industry, are quite entertaining and hilarious, particularly when firefighters in full turnout gear drop a frozen bird into a vat of blistering hot cooking oil and the turkey either explodes or erupts in a massive fireball.
Arizonans, being Arizonans, typically use these helpful public service announcements in exactly the opposite way they were intended, adding their own hold-my-beer-and-watch-this spin in yards across the state.
This is the second most popular tradition involving turkeys in Arizona, the first of which is electing them to the state Legislature.
I’m so glad I no longer live in Arizona for so many reasons, and one of them is that we’re coming up with a nice little Thanksgiving tradition of our own here in Sonoma County, although it doesn’t involve nearly as much family togetherness in the ER burn unit.
The tradition I’m talking about is our Give the Editor the Bird turkey drive to benefit Redwood Empire Food Bank. This year was our second go-round, and I’m punched as please (old Hubert Humphrey joke, ask your parents) to announce that thanks to your generosity, we’ve topped our goal. Again.
As I was watching the donation counter on the Redwood Food Bank’s website tick toward $75,000 last week, newsroom operations manager Ayrjia Child handed me an envelope that had arrived in the mail with my name on it.
Usually these are from collection agencies or the Columbia House trying to get me to buy 10 record albums for 99 cents (again, ask your parents), but this one contained a very nice check from the wife of my old Arizona buddy Dave Trotter.
Last year I told you all that Dave and I connected when I was writing a column for my old paper. Out of the blue one day he sent me a picture of a broom in the middle of the street and asked how then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer got to work that day. I put the line in my column and gave him full credit, and we became fast friends.
Dave was an extremely generous man who cared a lot about folks who weren’t as fortunate as he was. When I did a similar turkey drive in Arizona, Dave would call every year and ask how much I needed to put me over the top. And then write a big check.
Last year I also told you all about how Dave had died recently, and how much I missed him, so when I opened Debbie’s check, it almost brought tears to my eyes. She’d made sure Dave put me over the top again.
A lot of people will never know how much Dave, and now Debbie, have helped them, and I think they’d both say that’s OK. People don’t need to know where the help comes from, they just need the help.
And that need is all around us, even though we’ve raised more than $85,000 and beaten our goal by more than $10,000 and counting.
And that “and counting” part is important because, as I’ve stated in virtually every one of these columns, Sonoma County is a land of haves and have-nots, and unfortunately the folks at the food bank are seeing more of the latter these days. That won’t change when Thanksgiving Day is over.
So you can still dig deep and give early and often. Who knows? Maybe we’ll reach $100,000 — and wouldn’t that be something? Go to refb.org/givethebird to donate.
And of course now that we’ve exceeded our goal in grand fashion, I’ll kick in $1,000 of the money I get rifling the coin slots of pay phones (yep, ask your parents). And our Sonoma Media Investments publisher, Eric Johnston, will kick in $1,000 from the money he gets from his side-hustle of selling gently used turkey fryers.
Oh, and one more thing.
Thank you from the bottom of my cold, dark editor’s heart to the more than 400 of you who have already donated. Especially to the person named Anonymous, who has donated more than 40 times already! Your generosity means the world to me, but it means even more to those you’ve helped.
OK, and one more thing: Stay tuned for the announcement of our fabulous prize winners.
That’s right, you’ll have to put up with at least one more column from your humble narrator.
Now go have a happy Thanksgiving and try not to fight too much with the in-laws. Or if you do, ask them to help with dinner and drop the turkey in the fryer.
John D’Anna is managing editor of The Press Democrat. Look for his forthcoming book “Fun with Turkey Fryers” at a bookstore near you next Thanksgiving. In the meantime, go to refb.org/givethebird to donate to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Reach John at john.danna@pressdemocrat.com.
