By LAURA CANBY

Special for The Record

When this year’s Mobile Turkey Unit volunteers complete their goal of delivering about 500 Thanksgiving dinners on south and central Whidbey, it will also likely be the last time for one of its longest-serving volunteers: James Canby.

Canby was only 7 years old when he and his father joined Mobile Turkey Unit founder Tom Arhontas and a handful of other volunteers to cook and deliver 65 meals that first Thanksgiving 16 years ago.

The community effort was the brainchild of Tom Arhontas, a popular South Whidbey School District bus driver who died in 2008 at age 78. He founded the Mobile Turkey Unit in 1999 because he believed that everyone deserved to have a Thanksgiving dinner. He was especially concerned about seniors living alone, who wouldn’t cook a dinner just for themselves, the homeless and families in need.

Canby, a graduate of South Whidbey High School and now a second-year student in Skagit Valley College’s Culinary Arts Program, is taking time off from school to assist Mobile Turkey Unit head chef Al Jones in cooking 26 turkeys in the kitchen at St. Hubert Church in Langley.

Canby remembers when the event was held in the school district’s bus barn kitchen with Arhontas serving as lead cook.

“Tommy was a great guy and always full of energy,” Canby said. “He would cook turkeys, hams, and sometimes even lamb for the dinners, and would take the time to teach me while he was cooking.”

Over the years Canby has held just about every position for the event, from cutting pies and working the line, to attending organizational meetings and planning logistics, to peeling some of the hundreds of pounds of potatoes donated by the Knights of Columbus.

“I still remember cutting pies with Wren MacLean — he would cut them and I would spray each slice with whipped cream,” he said. “My favorite part, though, was just working with my parents as a family; helping my father plan the delivery routes, or delivering meals with my mother.”

He recalled the smiles on people’s faces when he and other volunteers arrived with their Thanksgiving dinner, particularly one elderly man in Possession Shores who had trouble walking. They ended up staying and visiting with him awhile.

“I later learned that he passed away several months later,” he said. “It felt good to know that he had one last nice Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Another time we were walking up a driveway and a little girl opened the door and yelled out, ‘Now it’s Thanksgiving, everybody! The turkey’s here!,’ ” Canby recounted.

Over the years the event has grown to include more than 150 volunteers, including several youth groups and families with children.

“We have always encouraged young people to be involved with the community event,” said Art Taylor, the event’s chairperson and chief coordinator, himself a volunteer since 2000. “It gives kids the experience of serving others in their community, and that’s a big part of what Thanksgiving is about.”

Volunteers can sign up on the Mobile Turkey Unit’s website at: www.mobileturkeyunit.wordpress.com.

Last year the organization delivered 500 meals on south and central Whidbey, and this year’s numbers are shaping up to be about the same.

“We bring meals to the elderly, the disabled, people who are ill, families who can’t afford to cook a full dinner with all the trimmings, the homeless, and people who work on Thanksgiving such as public servants, ferry workers, gas station attendants, etc.,” Taylor said.

Over the years the event was held in the bus barn, then the Eagles’ Aerie, and for the third year now, is being hosted by St. Hubert Roman Catholic Church in their kitchen and community room. All participants are volunteers, and the food is funded by private donations and contributions from several local churches.

Canby, who married in October and now lives in Anacortes, doesn’t know where he will be employed after graduation, so is treating this year’s event as his last.

“Wherever I am, I hope there will be an opportunity to do something similar to the Mobile Turkey Unit. It’s a big part of Thanksgiving for me. In fact, I can’t imagine what Thanksgiving would be without it,” he said.

Editor’s note: Laura Canby is a longtime volunteer for the Mobile Turkey Unit. James Canby is her son.