“Everyone gasps. They say ‘you’re having Thanksgiving dinner in a bar? Nobody’s going to want to come to a bar.’ Eventually, they forget it’s a bar. I think it’s a good venue for it,” she said.

    It helps that Burke prohibits drinking or smoking during the dinner.

    A dozen Mormon elder missionaries helped serve an estimated crowd of around 350 on Thursday. Elder Jacob Meier and Elder Matthew Rabe, both of Arizona, also helped. Yes, serving Thanksgiving dinner in a bar proved a first for the missionaries and not something taught in the Missionary Training Center.

    “We didn’t expect this one,” Meier said.

    Unfazed by the bar scene, the missionaries said it wasn’t a problem.

    “We’re always looking for service opportunities,” Rabe said.

    Burke and her volunteers spent most of Wednesday cooking 17 turkeys and “peeling way too many potatoes” to get ready for Thanksgiving Day. They arrived at the bar around 4:30 Thursday morning to get ready for the afternoon crowds.

    Visitors of every age and from various backgrounds took advantage of the dinner. Many had nowhere else to go, while others didn’t have money to fix a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Others were just hungry for someone to talk to.

    Burke can always tell when the truly hungry attend the dinner.

    “People who don’t eat right have those dark circles under their eyes. It’s amazing that there’s that many people here that have a need,” she said.

    Burke’s father once ran a bar in the old Monarch building where he held similar feasts on Thanksgiving. Burke, who works as a cook at the bar, could easily have gone to her sister’s for Thanksgiving. But she said she’d rather cook for the National Bar crowd.

    “I’m not sure why I do it. I look forward to it. It makes me feel good. You get to reconnect with people you haven’t seen in a while, and you get to meet new people,” she said.

    At the Pocatello Senior Center, the Lin Whitworth family hosted Thanksgiving Dinner, just as they have for 20 years. Just like Burke, the Whitworth family spent all Wednesday making dinner for a crowd of about 650 people.

    Whitworth’s daughter, Peggy Evans, says there are numerous families who can’t afford their own turkey dinner.

    “There are just so many people that are really struggling to put bread on the table,” she said.

    The family started their Thanksgiving dinner after Whitworth, a former state legislator, took over the venture from fellow legislator and restaurant owner Mary Lloyd. During the event, the Whitworths also provided Thanksgiving meals to the homebound.

    “I think last year we did just over 300 meals (for shut-ins),” Evans said.

    Volunteers delivered many of those meals, including 17-year-old Jenna Hall, who, with her parents Julie and David Hall, brothers Jacob, 22, and Josh 25, and cousin Stacey Johnson, delivered food.

    “You get to meet new people. It makes you grateful for what you have. The people we deliver to are really appreciative of the dinner,” she said.

    Josh Hall agreed.

    “I think it’s always a good experience. I never regret doing it,” he said.

    At the Salvation Army, the organization teamed up with the Olympus Calvary Church in providing Thanksgiving dinner to an estimated 60 people on Thursday. Church minister Pastor Jeff Fadness says doing so follows Christ’s missive of feeding His sheep — in this case literally feeding His sheep.

    “Ultimately it stirs our hearts. It’s caring for those less fortunate. It’s a touch of love from heaven. It’s the Lord’s work,” he said.

    The Thanksgiving Day Dinner is part of the church’s ongoing pantry program. Any time somebody asks for groceries, the church provides a box of food — without asking to see pay stubs. Fadness also asks recipients to attend a church service.

    It’s about feeding both bodies and souls, the Pastor said.

    “It’s a spiritual orientation. We don’t want to just give food away. We share with them, pray with them and give them a box of food. They’re hungry; they need food,” he said. “The bottom line is that we want them to know Jesus and to be spiritually fulfilled. We feed them physically for a moment, but it’s eternity that’s at stake. In that love of Jesus, we help with food. We love it.”