Over 200 turkeys are being prepped and served for Servo Thanksgiving this year (Photo Phoebe Doscher/The Gettysburgian)
By Phoebe Doscher, Staff Writer
It’s that time of year again, a Gettysburg College student’s dream come true: Servo Thanksgiving. Just a week before the start of Thanksgiving break, Servo offers scrumptious options of everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving foods. But, unbeknownst to these scores of hungry students, the Servo staff has spent weeks preparing for this night.
The Servo staff, including Chad Brodbeck, Dining Services Office Supervisor, and Charles Stockman, Executive Chef, has the kitchen organized in a way that will allow for an easy transition from regular meals to the high-demanding Thanksgiving meal. The supervisors have compiled a timeline stretching from weeks prior to Servo Thanksgiving down to the minute Servo opens at 4:30 PM on Tuesday.
“That timeline was developed many years ago, and we’ve kept to it. It works wonders,” Brodbeck commented on the highly-detailed schedule.
In fact, for weeks the staff has been saving buckets for livers, necks, hearts, and giblets of the over 200 turkeys to be served on Tuesday. The day of the event, Servo staff has been notified to leave the ovens open for all of the turkeys to be cooked. In order to provide enough food for all the eager Gettysburg students, volunteers, and staff members, Servo staff is expected to produce around 8,770 pounds of food and drink, based off of the amount served in 2017.
According to Brodbeck, these 4.4 tons of food are adequate for hungry staff and students, and the turkeys are usually picked clean by the end of the night. Thus, the weeks Servo staff has spent preparing for Tuesday certainly pay off. Staff have filled their refrigerators with rows of seasoned turkeys and pumpkin pies, chilling until Tuesday.
Further, the Servo staff can be seen hard at work in the kitchen organizing bowls for butter and side dishes and stacking cans of yams. They have already filled massive containers with ingredients for delicious stuffing.
Now, Gettysburg students, staff, and volunteers eagerly await their preemptive Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday afternoon. The Servo staff — and their turkeys — are just as ready as students are for this satiating night of food, friends, and gratitude.
