Annual turkey fry provides fare for 300

What started in a driveway has expanded to hundreds of volunteers

Bill Lame remembers the year he and four friends set up five deep fryers on his driveway, cooking turkeys to give to needy families he learned about through his church.

As he stored the grease and put away the fryers that day, little did he know that some 27 years later, he’d be joined by more than 200 volunteers preparing 300 deepfried turkey dinners for Kendall County families.

That was the scene Wednesday as members of the Christian Men of Boerne came together the day before Thanksgiving at the Kendall County Fairgrounds. There, they prepared the hundreds of turkeys that serve as the traditional centerpiece for a Thanksgiving meal, given to hundreds of families in the Boerne area that otherwise might not have such a holiday feast.

“We’ve been very, very blessed to have this go on for 27 years,” Lame said about the Christian Men of Boerne Thanksgiving Turkey Fry. “And we keep growing.”

In the early days of the endeavor, Lame’s Thanksgiving Day turkey giveaway began to grow, moving from his driveway to several church kitchens around town.

This past week, men from 15 different houses of worship gathered around the deep fryers, watching their turkeys cook to a perfect finish as they sat in folding chairs and played dominoes, cards and chess.

“I had no idea of the need in Boerne,” Lame said. “Back then, we didn’t have the food banks, and Boerne was only about 5,000 people. But the dynamics of the city have changed.”

Lame is quick to give credit for helping pull the turkey fry together: Kendall County Fair Association for use of the fairgrounds and drive; the Christian Men of Boerne, showing up as early as 5:30 a.m.; H-EB, for providing free of charge nearly half of the 300 birds, the first time any turkeys have been donated; and Rhonda — “just Rhonda,” Lame said — at Hill Country Family Services, who organized a collection of hundreds of cans of vegetables and other sides to go with the turkeys.

“She brings the volunteers together that you saw out front, serving the people who will now have a better Thanksgiving weekend,” he said.

Those dipping turkeys into scalding vats of grease on Wednesday included Michael Fay, a first-time fryer — not only at the event, but the first time to deep-fry a turkey. Ever.

“Thanks to my friend Steve (Laughlin) here, he taught me how to start this thing up, how to get the flame right, how to get the right temperature and how to put the bird into the oil,” Fay said. “Without him, I couldn’t have done it.”

Laughlin, who has been to similar functions in other places, was also a first-timer at the Christian Men of Boerne outing.

“In my Bible study class, Bill Lame said, ‘Come on down,’ and I said ‘OK.’ So here I am,” Laughlin said.

The Taylor family -- Mike, Josh and Greg – started coming to the Thanksgiving turkey fry about four years ago, through Currey Creek Church.

“The weather is always perfect for frying turkeys,” Josh Taylor said. The trio had finished four turkeys and were preparing to go for a fifth.

Asked if they ever “sneak a taste” of a bird during their five hours under the fairground pavilion, Greg Taylor produced the quote of the day.

“Well, we sneak some before they put it in the bag. Some family is going to get one missing a drumstick: ‘It was a one-legged turkey, I swear,’” he said, sharing the rolling laughter with the others.

“I had no idea of the need in Boerne.”

— Bill Lame