Around 30 residents from the city of Lanett gathered at the Lanett Senior Center to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with a fresh meal, fellowship and a reminder of all the reasons to be thankful. 

Senior Center Director Sandra Thornton organized the Thanksgiving Day program for the group, inviting Lanett Mayor Jamie Heard, Reverend Kelsey Barnes and Shemeka Brock from One Vision nonprofit. 

Heard began by thanking Thornton and the residents for celebrating the holiday together.

“If we look around, we’ve got people younger than us not able to go. We got people older than us that’s not able to go so we are just thankful to the Lord that we wake up,” Heard said. “We have so much to be thankful for.”

Barnes, who leads worship at the Goodsell United Methodist Church in Lanett as well as Powell Chapel Methodist Church in LaFayette, then gave a short sermon on the day of thanksgiving. He reminded the residents who all the thanks should go to, referencing Psalm 9:1 “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”

“God had brought him over so many trials of life, and God has brought us over trials in life. And David knew and understood that there was no time for no half hearted thanks,” Barnes said. 

One Vision, a Lanett community organization, works to support other local groups and the community through community service, volunteerism, donation and empowerment. One Vision donated ham and dinner rolls to the meal. 

“It’s an umbrella for several nonprofit organizations, where we are fostering community empowerment through education and recreational events,” Brock said. “And we just like to give back to the community. Our first event this year we did was a back to school drive. It was very successful with the help of the city of Lanett, but we look forward to continuing to work with the community.”

Masonic Lodge 165, the Lanett chapter, also donated beverages to the meal. 

Before the plates came out, three residents, “The Lanettas,” got dressed up in disco costumes and provided some musical entertainment for the rest of the group. 

The Lanett Seniors Choir also sang a couple of songs, and Brenda Wright gave a prayer over the program.