Former grocery store owner has fed thousands on Thanksgiving for 51 years
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 25 November 2022
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
For more than fifty years, Bob Vogelbaugh has made sure that his Moline, Illinois, community is well fed on Thanksgiving Day. The former grocery store owner started this tradition in 1970 to include some of his customers who were going to be alone on Thanksgiving Day. What began as a small gathering inside his grocery store has grown to fill an entire food court in an area mall. He and his volunteers served more than 3,200 people this year. Bob Vogelbaugh’s wonderful Thanksgiving tradition foreshadows the thanksgiving dinner of all dinners. One day, those who know Christ as their Lord will hear these words: “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).
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Author: Jim Denison, PhD
Narrator: Chris Elkins
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you for listening to today's daily article podcast for Friday, November the 25th, 2022. |
| 0:09.7 | It is written by Dr. Jim Denison and narrated by Chris Elkins of the Denison Forum. |
| 0:14.1 | For more than 50 years, Bob Vogelbao has made sure that his Moline, Illinois community is well fed on Thanksgiving Day. |
| 0:22.0 | The former grocery store owner started this tradition in 1970 to include some of his customers |
| 0:27.7 | who were going to be alone on Thanksgiving Day. |
| 0:30.4 | What began as a small gathering inside his grocery store has grown to fill an entire food court |
| 0:35.9 | in an area mall. |
| 0:37.0 | He and his volunteers served more than 3,200 people this year. |
| 0:42.4 | It's not a charity dinner, he said. |
| 0:44.3 | It's just a Thanksgiving gathering of friends and people you don't know, |
| 0:49.0 | and some you do know through this over the years. |
| 0:52.4 | A pastor was famous for beginning every Sunday service |
| 0:55.3 | with an invocation focused on Thanksgiving. He would give thanks to God for events across |
| 1:00.1 | the week, occurrences in the life of the church, and even the good weather. However, one Sunday |
| 1:05.0 | morning, the congregation gathered in the midst of a terrible blizzard, roads where I see, |
| 1:09.6 | most people could not even make it to church. |
| 1:11.9 | As the pastor stepped to the pulpit to offer his customary invocation, |
| 1:15.7 | a few members in attendance wondered to themselves |
| 1:18.5 | by reason he could possibly find to give thanks on this miserable day. |
| 1:23.1 | The pastor began his prayer by describing the weather in all its ferocity. |
| 1:27.1 | Then he paused and prayed, and dear Lord, we thank you that it's not always like this. |
| 1:32.6 | November saw 33 mass shootings. |
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