A Home for Holidays

THOUSAND OAKS —  For the first time in 41 years, Hanne Hall was facing the holidays alone.

Her husband, Glendon, died in August, and she was at a loss over how to get through Christmas, that most family-oriented of holidays.

Then she heard that hundreds of people just like her gather each year not far from her Thousand Oaks home for a traditional feast, and her Christmas plans suddenly gelled.

“Look at all these happy people,” said the 78-year-old Hall, who worked the dessert table Monday at the seventh annual Conejo Community Holiday Dinner. “I knew I had to do something where I was occupied. It’s nice to be here.”

There was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie, but the event is more than just a meal. It’s also a community affair for those who aren’t expected anywhere for the holidays.

“When I heard about the event, I said, ‘That’s it. I’m coming,’ ” said Fran Greenwald-Frank, a recent widow, who sat at a table with some neighbors from Leisure Village in Camarillo. “It’s not the meal I’m here for. I wanted to be with a group of people.”

The dinner, held in the Thousand Oaks High School cafeteria, draws mainly senior citizens, many who are widowed, but a scattering of single people attend as well. Some of the community’s homeless also wander in for a plate of food, but are more likely to take theirs to go.

“Many of the people have needs that are not monetary,” said Agoura Hills resident Joyce Delson, who along with her husband, Donn, organizes the free event. “There is also a need for people to be together.”

The couple raise money for the dinner from the community and local synagogues. Students from Conejo Valley high schools chat with the guests while adults help out heating and serving the donated food.

Donn Delson said the event has become so popular, all the volunteer slots were filled by early December. Most of the high school students who work at the event are Jewish, kids who otherwise might find themselves bored on a holiday they don’t celebrate.

“Teenagers sometimes get a bad rap,” said 17-year-old Kristen Weiss, a senior at Westlake High School. “But the people we’re serving here see us in a different light. They could be lonely, and they want to share their experiences with us.”

Leisure Village resident Marion Tavano said she would have nobody to celebrate Christmas with if she didn’t attend the dinner, as she has for the last six years.

An inner-ear problem prevents the 62-year-old great-grandmother and widow from flying to San Mateo to visit her daughter.

“And my daughter won’t come see me because she has her own kids and her own life,” Tavano said. “She always wants me to come there. But it’s hard.”

Donn Delson said that about 350 people from throughout the county attended Monday’s dinner, and he had already received word of volunteers for next year’s event.

“There’s just nothing else like this in the county that I know of,” said Delson, who owns a gift and award business. “It’s a place to share conversation, and just a place to be for the holiday.”