Bob Vogelbaugh, “Mr. Thanksgiving” stands with a group of the Seton Catholic School students in Moline who fundraised $1,600 to help save the Thanksgiving community meal he founded. (Lindsey Honert/Seton Catholic School)

MOLINE – Bob Vogelbaugh started hosting a Thanksgiving meal for the community 54 years ago in 1970. Since COVID, it’s been a drive-through.

Although as a former grocery store owner Voglebaugh – aka “Mr. Thanksgiving” – certainly appreciated the importance of the food, he also believed strongly that Thanksgiving was about people breaking bread together.

Voglebaugh, age 83, is a crossing guard at Seton Catholic School in Moline.

If a sit-down meal wasn’t in the cards in some way shape or form, he thought maybe it was time to let it go.

Steve Ducey, Emily Allen and Mark Gasiorowski, parents of Seton Catholic students, heard Mr. Thanksgiving’s community celebration was in jeopardy and stepped in to help.

SOMETHING TOO GOOD TO STOP

They knew what they had to do, Ducey says: “We mobilized and got ahold of Bob and said, ‘You get to relax and smile and talk and wave to people, but we’re going to keep this meal going. You started something too good to stop.’”

A location was secured at the community gathering space Mercado On Fifth (which is ironically just down the street from Vogelbaugh’s old grocery store, Bob’s Market).

Caption: Seton Catholic School parents (left to right), Steve Ducey, Mark Gasiorowski and Emily Allen stand with Mr. Thanksgiving – and school crossing guard – Bob Voglebaugh, and students from Seton Catholic School and Alleman High School. (Supplied photo/Paul Barnes)

A group of 75 volunteers was assembled, and they began the process of fundraising and food-gathering. The numbers are big – 130 turkeys, 600 pounds of stuffing, 600 pounds of mashed potatoes, gravy and all the fixings.

For their part, Seton Catholic students raised $1,600 by bringing in monetary donations in exchange for an out-of-uniform day.

2,000 EXPECTED FOR DINNER

Vogelbaugh was clearly moved by the response from the children he escorts across the street every day.  “I was very, very touched . . . that amount of money, that’s fantastic.”

Dinner will be served from 4 to 7 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. Because 2,000 are expected for dinner  (Vogelbaugh stresses that everyone is invited – “all walks of life”), it would not be possible to seat all inside the Mercado if everyone came at once. In that case drive-through will handle the overflow.

“I still say, it was God that put it in me when the first one started,” says Mr. Thanksgiving, adding, “Why he picked me to be the turkey to feed the flock I don’t know, but it’s been very rewarding.”