Thanksgiving dinner can be one of the most stressful and complicated meals to plan. But few home cooks are faced with the daunting challenge that Tony Koebel faces every year.
Koebel is the owner and operator of The Norbert and The Orville restaurants in West Bend. Alongside an army of volunteers, he hosts a free Thanksgiving meal at four area churches. The annual meals feed well over 1,000 people.
“We actually start cooking, I would say, at the end of September or right around maybe the first week of October,” Koebel told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “It’s kind of a process.”
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But the weeks of hard work are worth it, Koebel said, when he sees people from all walks of life enjoying a good meal together.
“You’re sitting at these long card tables and you’re just enjoying the company of the people that you’re with,” he said. “That is a miracle in itself. When you walk up into that gym and it’s full, and someone who’s making $1 million a year is sitting next to someone who can’t afford anything — I think that’s what Thanksgiving is supposed to be about.”
The community event is one alternative for people looking to escape the stress and chaos of hosting a large Thanksgiving dinner themselves. Koebel used to host a free Thanksgiving meal — albeit one much smaller — at The Norbert. He was inspired by another free meal hosted by Mary Kay von Brendel at St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception in West Bend, which started in 2008.
In 2022, von Brendal asked Koebel if he could take over her community meal.
“I jumped at the opportunity, because she was my inspiration,” Koebel said. “And how could I say no to that? Besides, she was feeding so many more people.”
But Koebel knew he couldn’t handle all the details by himself. He enlisted the help of his friend Kelly Sickler to organize volunteers, donations and deliveries.
The preparation for all of it starts months in advance. Beginning in September, Koebel and his staff cook several birds a week. The turkeys are thawed over 48 to 72 hours, baked for three to four hours and then cooled slightly. They’re deboned while still fairly hot and then re-frozen. The bones are saved to make stock and gravy.
“In our industry, if you can use as much out of a vegetable or out of an animal, the better off you are,” Koebel said. “Nothing beats real great turkey stock. You can’t buy another product that’s going to produce that quality of flavor, so it’s very important that we stockpile all the stock. This year, we’re gonna end up with about 180 quarts of stock.”
The meals will be served this year from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at four area churches: St. Mary’s in West Bend, St. Michael’s in Kewaskum, Faith Lutheran in Germantown and St. Luke’s in Slinger. Delivery is available if arranged ahead of time.
Koebel’s favorite part of the meal is that it inspires people to help their neighbors.
“But a very close second is the fact that it is a community event and there’s no one we won’t feed,” he said.
