The small tribal jail I worked at only had a pizza oven. The inmates ate TV dinners for breakfast, lunch and supper. One year just before Thanksgiving we got a real stove. We had about 15 inmates that could not get a release for the Thanksgiving holiday. The inmates wanted to know if they could have a real Turkey that Thanksgiving instead of a TV dinner. I told them that all the trustees’ had a holiday release and there was no one to cook it for them.
I went home and was telling my family and my three teenage girls asked if they could cook it for them. I said “I don’t know if that is a good idea” They kept at me saying that was what Thanksgiving should be like and it would not be fun to stay at home because their dad who was also a cop and myself were going to be working anyway. I told them I would ask the Chief of Police.
The tribes are really good about anything that was family. When I asked the police chief he said that would be fine as long as they were monitored by the corrections officer at all times they were in the jail area and the inmates could not leave the jail area. They would have to eat at the metal picnic tables they used. We had wanted to decorate the room where the tables were the officers and public used as it was still secure but we accepted his rules.
The girls had to be careful what they allowed in the jail area and everything approved by corrections. They decorated the tables with painted cans (no glass) and flowers and used clean sheets for the tablecloths. They got some fancy paper plates (no glass). They used the forks etc. from the jail. They spent the two days before Thanksgiving making pies in the tin foil plates and getting all their goodies as ready as they can.
The big day arrived, we got up at 2am…yuck so they could get down there and get started. They did every bit of that dinner by themselves. They hauled our big Kitchenaid mixer down etc. They cooked and served that beautiful Thanksgiving dinner to the inmates. There was not a better behaved grateful group of people ever sat down for a Thanksgiving meal. They minded their manners and could not believe that those girls were waiting on them like they were something special.
After the kitchen was up and running good the next year the tribes did not allow Thanksgiving breaks for the inmates and the trustees cooked the meal.
The inmates that were in jail at that time have never forgotten my girls. Even today if they see me they ask if I remember that Thanksgiving. In fact, once an inmate that had been in jail at that time for murder would help my daughter out of a bad situation at a local store when some thugs were bothering her. They never forgot, they were always thankful and that is what Thanksgiving is about.
Most inmates in local jails are good people with an alcohol or drug problem. The inmate serving time for murder had served his time in federal prison where he could be in a local jail on work release status. His incident was also an alcohol related incident where he was fighting over a gun and it went off. There are some fine people in jail and we need to remember that and treat them nice. They are great when they sober up or clean up from taking drugs. Hard time prisoners are a different story.
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