ECHO — Since the February 2020 flooding of the Umatilla River, Pastor John Marcum of the Echo Community Church has lived in a fifth wheel trailer in a Hermiston recreational vehicle park.

The floodwaters destroyed his home. But, as he put it, “You just had to keep on living.”

In just two or three weeks, he’ll be back in Echo, living in his new home, he said. But that isn’t all Marcum is grateful for this Thanksgiving. He expressed his gratitude for the 40-plus people who gathered in the basement of the 150-year-old church, sharing a pre-Thanksgiving feast on a clear and sunny Saturday, Nov. 20.

“It’s a time to be thankful for all we go through,” he said. “Because it makes us better.”

The smells of the massive feast — complete with 30 pies, four turkeys, one ham, salad, fruit, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, rolls and more — wafted through the door and outside to the street. There, flowers, signs for pumpkins and scarecrows decorated the front of the church, signaling exactly what time of year this is.

Inside, people sat at tables, chatting about what’s new around town and what Thanksgiving means to them. Women cooked and carried trays of food and meandered around the room filled with people who have frequented the church for years.

Marcum said there were about twice as many people at the meal as last year, when the pandemic still had much of America on lockdown. Though attendance still has not reached previous years, where as many as 100 people would come for the meal, Marcum said it seemed people were ready to be out socializing.

Among them was Ken Linda Nelson, who joined the church in 1989. She lives in Hermiston and makes the commute to Echo for the fellowship she experiences there. And in just more than a month, she’ll come to the church and play “Let There be Peace on Earth” on a flute on Christmas Eve.

“This is a month for being thankful,” she said. “I enjoy the fellowship here, and this is a good way to do it.”

Janice Diggins also has been with the church for more than 20 years. She moved back to Echo to take care of her mother before she died at the age of 93 late last December.

A board member with the church, Diggins has been involved with the choir until about a month ago. Now, at the age of 84, she said she enjoys Thanksgiving for how it brings her family together, many of whom live in Echo.

“It’s a time of fellowship,” she said. “And a time of family.”