Deacon from Peoria Diocese known as 'Mr. Thanksgiving'

Published: 2003-11-19

MOLINE, Ill. (CNS) -- What Santa Claus is to secular Christmas, or Uncle Sam is to the Fourth of July, Deacon Robert Vogelbaugh is to Thanksgiving in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. The deacon from Sacred Heart Parish in Moline is known throughout the area as "Mr. Thanksgiving." He has become as much a part of the holiday as his annual community Thanksgiving dinner, which has fed more than 40,000 people over 32 years. This year he expects more than 2,000 guests and more than 400 volunteers to attend the event. He finds the fellowship and community spirit the event generates to be just as nourishing as the food, if not more. "People are the food of my life," Deacon Vogelbaugh told The Catholic Post, Peoria diocesan newspaper. "They give me nourishment without the calories. Anything I can do for people, I do." The 62-year-old social worker started the Thanksgiving dinner tradition in 1971 when he owned a grocery store in Moline.

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