Ten years ago, the first Community Thanksgiving Dinner in Coupeville included one vegetable and 29 different desserts.

A lot has changed in subsequent years. The menu has become more robust and the event is now well known for providing a festive, friendly place to spend Thanksgiving.

Organizers are busy looking for volunteers to help prepare food for the annual Thanksgiving celebration, which this year takes place Nov. 28.

Organizer Peggy Burton isn’t worried, however, because people always seem to prepare the food needed.

“It’s an incredible thing — it just happens,” Burton said.

She attended Tuesday’s Coupeville Town Council meeting, asking members if they would consider waiving the fee in coming years to rent the Coupeville Recreation Hall.

Currently it costs organizers $50 to rent the hall, but the council is currently considering a fee change that would double the cost for events such as the Community Thanksgiving Dinner.

While that may not seem like a lot of money, it would eat into the limited amount of donations the loosely-organized group collects for the event.

The group had already paid the fee for this year’s event.

The number of people attending this event has increased over the years. Last year, approximately 250 people enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at the Coupeville Rec Hall.

“We fill a need we didn’t know existed,” Burton said during Tuesday’s meeting.

She said the Thanksgiving dinner started 10 years ago when local residents would meet at a Front Street coffee shop and were talking about how they could get together for Thanksgiving and the event grew from there.

The group is looking for volunteers to help prepare food. To get involved call Burton at 687-1667, or Kathy Griggs at 678-6000.