Overnight effort: Masons cook turkeys to provide for community
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(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Members of the Young County Masonic Lodge #485 pose the morning of Friday, Dec. 22 next to a trailer with 164 turkeys cooked overnight by the group. A majority of the turkeys cooked were donated to those less fortunate in the community. -
(SHERMAN MARSH | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Members of the Young County Masonic Lodge #485 stand by a smoker which they used to cook turkeys from Thursday, Dec. 21 to early Friday, Dec. 22. The organization cooked a total of 164 turkeys for the community.
Cooking from dusk to dawn the Young County Masonic Lodge worked on smokers last week to provide 164 turkeys, with 124 donated to those less fortunate in the community.
The annual Christmas turkey program from the organization continued for its 13th year at the lodge located on Third Street in Graham.
Donated smokers lined the back of the lodge which were loaned to the organization by various members of the community.
Lodge members said the fires started around 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21 with the first batch taken off around 2 a.m. Friday, Dec. 22.
“Some of them were 20 pounds, some of them were 10 pounds, so you have to shuffle them to hotter spots on these grills (and) each cooker cooks differently,” Lodge member Mike Sipes said. “The size of the turkey determines how long it takes to cook.”
On Friday, various organizations collected the turkeys to distribute to those in the community who were less fortunate. Those organizations were Virginia’s House, First Baptist Church, Bethel Baptist Church, Faith Center Assembly of God, Graham Crisis Center and Cornerstone.
The masons cooked all 164 turkeys through the night and early into next morning. The remaining 40 turkeys not donated were given to community members who purchased the turkeys.
Turkeys were available for purchase for $45 wrapped in foil and ready to eat or reheat. The funds raised by the organization will go to its charitable community contributions.
