SYLACAUGA – The Sylacauga’s Promise Committee discussed the tallies from the largest ever Communitywide Thanksgiving Dinner at their regular meeting on Friday.

Committee member Taylor Logan said 1,750-1,850 meals were served at the community dinner or delivered to homes.

She said the number was a slight increase from last year. But they had planned for as many as 2,000 meals.

“Thank you to the hospital for cooking all of the food, we appreciate it,’ Logan said. “Thank you to everybody who played a part.”

It was estimated more than 250 people came out to volunteer for the Thanksgiving dinner. Committee member Leon Cleveland said a good number of those volunteers were young adults.

“It seemed like more and more young folks were chipping in,” he said. “There were a lot of them there.”

The dinner was held at Reaching the World Bible Church. The Rev. Henry Looney said the annual event ran well despite the large amounts of people and food to keep up with.

“We have it down it to an inexact, chaotic science,” he said. “The thing that we did that helped this time was we had tickets for the ones that were there. I think we recorded 160 but we probably had about 200 there because everybody didn’t get the tickets.”

The committee also announced a date for its Promise Day. The event has been scheduled for April 10 at Noble Park from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Logan said the day would feature free food, entertainment and booths with information on living a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s just a day of fun,” she said. “The hospital does food, Blue Bell does ice cream and there are games and activities set up everywhere. It’s a day of celebration.”

Also discussed at the meeting was the “100 Best Communities” contest and how to increase the city’s Promise Places.

A Promise Place is a school, community center, place of worship, business or organization that provides the Five Promises. The promises are: caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education and to provide opportunities to help youth and others.

Logan said the Promise Places are looked at by the committee deciding the 100 Best Communities awards. Anyone meeting the requirements can sign up online.

“There are several questions they have to answer,” she said. “And the more we get, the better it looks for our community.”

To apply, go to www.americaspromise.org/promiseplaces.