Worthington restaurant adapts, maintains Thanksgiving tradition during pandemic

WORTHINGTON, Ohio (WCMH) - Despite a challenging year on several counts, a Worthington restaurant managed to grow its Thanksgiving tradition. Thursday, the Whitney House owners and volunteers prepared enough food for more than 50 families.

“We needed a little bit of getting back to what our traditions were, feeling like we like to feel on Thanksgiving, spending time with the people we love and doing something for our community,” explained Ian Brown, owner of The Whitney House.

2020 took its toll on The Whitney House and the service industry as a whole. The restaurant reopened for in-house dining on June 1st, expanding seating to its patio and the front sidewalk in downtown Worthington. When Franklin County issued a new stay at home advisory one week before the Thanksgiving holiday, Brown decided to return to carry-out only for the next few weeks.

“We have so much support and there’s so much love and we will all get through this. We really will,” Brown said.

For the 2020 Thanksgiving meal delivery, the restaurant committed to serving its most families yet. More than 200 people received a fully prepared turkey dinner with all of the sides. The produce and ingredients are mostly donated by vendors and distributors and donations from customers help cover the cost of the turkeys.

“Some people are really struggling. And it’s important that they get to have a proper Thanksgiving and get to enjoy themselves with their family just like I do,” said Ella Brown, Ian’s daughter.

Ella, 17, and her brother Graham have been helping prepare the meals for the past five years. Many of the family’s friends also volunteer their time as early as 4 a.m. every year.

“This year has been hard on a lot of people for a lot of different reasons. I know I said 3:30 was tough to get up for in the morning, but quite frankly I was really looking forward to it,” said Ken Katz.

He was teaching his son Tyler to carve turkeys Thursday and said the teen has learned some important life lessons over the years.

“It’s really rewarding to be up here knowing it’s for a good cause. I’m here with friends and family. And it’s really worth getting up that early,” Tyler Katz said.

All volunteers wore masks and gloves, took their temperatures upon arrival and stayed in their family groups working on different tasks. Many said despite the changes, they were grateful to continue the tradition and see friends and family.

“After you spend 8, 9, 10 hours, however long we’re here this morning doing all of this, and you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner later on in the night, you feel great,” said Brown. “You’re worn out, but you feel phenomenal.”

Later in the day, more volunteers picked up the meals from the Whitney House and delivered them directly to families. Worthington City School District gave the restaurant a list of low income families to receive the meals.