2006 Black Oak Thanksgiving Feast in Gary, IN

        Wednesday night prior- the youth prepare sweet potatoes

In past years, the youth group prepared 40-60 pounds of homemade sweet potatoes from scratch.  This year, we were asked by the Firehouse Community Center, in Gary, to prepare 100 pounds of homemade sweet potatoes.  God definitely provided more than enough sweet potatoes through our youth group and their families. The youth brought in 170+ pounds of fresh sweet potatoes.

Many thanks goes to our youth.  They worked hard. The potatoes had to be washed, cooked, peeled, and then a butter/brown sugar syrup was added.  Do all this for all those potatoes we had collected!!!  We had every burner covered with a pot full of sweet potatoes--every spot in the oven was filled with baking sweet potatoes--and we also had two 18-quart roasters filled with baking sweet potatoes.  Then the youth (and leaders and parents) cleaned up--washing pots and pans, sweeping floors, putting tables away.

150 pounds (or so) made 27 pans, but we collected so many potatoes that we still were unable to cook them all during the one night. Thanks to parents who cooked some of them at home!!!  

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