The Beerman Family Thanksgiving Day Dinner

Dayton, Ohio – September 8, 2009

 

            Today, William S. Weprin, President of the The Beerman Foundation, along with his wife Barbara Beerman Weprin announced The Beerman Annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner held in 2008 will go on record as being the last, capping a forty year history and Dayton tradition with more than 200,000 turkey dinners served during its tenure.

 

“It has been heartwarming to provide a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner to so many wonderful people and have a hand in the development of community pride and spirit and a strong case could certainly be made to continue the event.  However, after considerable thought and discussion, the foundation directors felt a need to focus their efforts on programs covering broader areas and those beneficial on a year round basis.” Bill Weprin said.

                            

He continued, “We are so very proud of the heritage associated with the Annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner dating back to 1968 and the desire of both the late Arthur and Jessie Beerman to show their appreciation to the Dayton community for their support as Arthur recovered from a devastating heart attack.  We know of very few communities as rich in spirit and friendship as Dayton.”

 

The Beerman Annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner is believed to be the largest of its kind in the nation having served an average of 4,000 turkey dinners per year.  An event so large, it was held at the Dayton Convention Center.  In fact it was so big the Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA) actually issued special passes for riders to attend the dinner at no charge.  The lowest attendance ever at the annual event was estimated at 3,200 people with an all-time record of approximately 8,500.  

 

“The number of people served is rather impressive,” said Weprin, “considering it was always an all volunteer army with folks from all walks of life contributing to the immense effort.  Each year we would utilize up to 400 volunteers and we always had a waiting list of those willing to serve.  Our volunteers were a core group and essential to the success of the event.  We can never thank them enough for all of the hard work and assistance they provided.  For many families there were literally generations of volunteers among their ranks, that’s how strong the commitment was.”

 

According to Bill Weprin, “There are no plans to relocate The Beerman Foundation.  The foundation will continue to maintain its base of operations in the Dayton area and the foundation will continue to serve the Dayton community, just as Arthur and Jessie Beerman had envisioned more than seventy years ago when the foundation was established.”

 

Weprin finished by saying, “The foundation considers it an honor and a privilege to have been able to provide so many wonderful memories to so many people over the past forty years.  Dayton is special with a warmth and friendship unique to Midwestern cities and a heart as big as any in our nation.”