A free Thanksgiving dinner for all of Florence. No tickets. No barriers. Just a seat with your name on it.
Until the table is set
The invitation
One Table Florence is a free, community-wide Thanksgiving dinner held every Thanksgiving Day at Timrod Park. Long tables, a full Thanksgiving meal, live music, and the whole city sitting down together.
It started in 2023 with a simple idea: nobody in this city should eat Thanksgiving dinner alone, and a shared table has a way of proving how much we have in common. There are no tickets, no reservations, and nothing to sign. Bring your whole family or come by yourself. Both work.
Our story →
The day
When
Thanksgiving Day
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Running late? Come anyway.
Where
Timrod Park
558 Spruce Street, Florence, SC 29501
Parking
First Presbyterian
700 Park Avenue. Free, and under a two minute walk.
Cost
Free. Always.
No tickets, no reservations, nothing to sign up for.
Timrod Park has limited parking of its own on Thanksgiving morning, so plan on the church lot. It is the easiest way in and there are people out directing.
Main lot, start here
First Presbyterian Church
700 Park Avenue, Florence, SC 29501
Free · Under a 2 minute walk
The church opens its lot to us every year. Pull in, park anywhere, and walk over. It is less than two minutes to the table, and we have folks out directing.
If the walk is too far
You can pull right up to the table. Come through the circle drive at the Lawton-Chase House, 558 Spruce Street, and let your passengers out beside the tables. Accessible drop-off is welcome and there is no need to ask. Park at the church afterward.
Also fine
Street parking
There is room on the streets around the park. Please leave driveways clear and be courteous to the neighbors, who are our hosts for the morning.
Bringing a dish?
Drop off at the Lawton-Chase House
558 Spruce Street. Pull through the circle drive and follow the food drop-off signs. Drop-off only, no parking there, so head to the church lot afterward.
What happens
Two hours in the park with music playing, kids running, and a few hundred people who mostly did not know each other when they sat down.
Local musicians play from the Timrod Park gazebo the whole time. Past years brought the Lucky Knights, a harp soloist, and more.
Write what you are grateful for on a leaf and add it to the tree. It fills up as the day goes on.
The Bubble Man, face painting, and the open grounds of the park, so the children have somewhere to go while the adults linger.
Local leaders share short reflections of gratitude throughout the meal. Brief, warm, and then back to eating.
You sit down next to somebody you do not know and leave knowing them a little better. That is the quiet center of the whole thing.
The menu
A full Thanksgiving plate, cooked by hundreds of neighbors, served hot in the park. Come hungry.
Three ways in
Pick the one that fits your Thanksgiving. Every one of them is the whole job, and none of them is more important than showing up.
Cook
One pan · dropped off Thursday morning
Make a casserole or a dessert at home in your own kitchen, bring it to the park, and go enjoy your day. One pan feeds about a dozen people.
See the recipes →Serve
A few hours · Thanksgiving morning
Set up, plate food, refill drinks, wipe a table, say hello. No experience needed and no commitment past the day.
Attend
11 to 1 · nothing required
Show up and eat. This is not the small role. A table is just a table until somebody sits down at it.
Shifts are split so you get to eat too. You are not giving up your Thanksgiving dinner. You are having it with a few hundred neighbors.
From our table to yours
Here's the answer. These are the actual recipes off the One Table line, scaled for a crowd and written down. Cook them for your own Thanksgiving, or make one for ours.
Green Bean Casserole
The one everybody reaches for first. Makes a full pan, feeds about a dozen.
Get the recipe →
Sweet Potato Casserole
Brown sugar, a little crunch on top, and no arguments about marshmallows.
Get the recipe →
The gallery
Twelve hundred people came last Thanksgiving. Click any photo to flip through the morning.
Photography by McKenzie Bell.
Where it stands
More of Florence every yearOne Table runs on volunteers and on local businesses, churches, clubs and neighbors who put in what they have. Nobody on the organizing team draws a paycheck.
Stay in the loop
You never need a ticket or a reservation. Leave your name and we will send you a reminder as Thanksgiving gets close, plus a heads-up about parking.
Goes to HubSpot. A few emails a year, nothing else, and you can leave the list any time.
You're on the list. We'll be in touch before Thanksgiving. Come hungry.