A Thanksgiving Feast for Interlake
A local farmer recounts a heartwarming community surprise visit that turned a quiet workday into a Philharmonic Society jubilee.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Thanksgiving of 1883 will long be remembered at Interlake. This morning I donned my big rubber boots to take a stroll over the ranch when one of the neighbors came over to where I was, as unconcerned as you please. Looking towards the house I noticed some little children in the yard, and thinking they had been sent on an errand, I returned, and as we farmers usually do, went in the back way. Upon entering the kitchen, to say I was surprised wouldn't do it justice. Baskets, boxes, buckets and tubs covered nearly the whole floor, all well filled with—well, I couldn't just say what. But ere two hours passed I was made aware what they contained—everything heart could wish. After meeting and congratulating the ladies in the sitting room, I turned the house over to them. The table contained the very best this country affords. The party was not very large, only 28 all told, but there were eatables enough left to feed as many more after we spoiled all we could. After dinner we formed ourselves into a Philharmonic Society and had a joyous afternoon. Mrs. Susie Weedin, Mrs. James, Mrs. Chandler and Mrs. Kraecht were at the head of this, and well they managed it. We parted, but never to forget the Thanksgiving of 1883.
“Upon entering the kitchen, to say surprised wouldn't do it justice.”
While the name Interlake is now primarily associated with the neighborhoods around Green Lake in Seattle, in 1883, it represented the semi-rural, agrarian character of the area just beginning to feel the pressures of urban growth. This story captures a fleeting moment of pioneer community spirit before the rapid expansion of the streetcar lines transformed these homesteads into suburban residential plots.
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