It will be almost like Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one this week in Oakdale, with the annual community dinner on Thursday and Cowboy Christmas on Saturday.

The Spirit of Oakdale Committee is poised to host is 17th annual Oakdale Thanksgiving Dinner, served up to one and all at the Gene Bianchi Community Center at 110 S. Second Ave. in Oakdale from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 25, Thanksgiving Day.

Many community volunteers lend their time and talent to set up the center, prepare and serve the meal, and there is always enough to go around, typically with enough for second helpings.

For more information on the dinner, contact Vickie Thompson at 848-0830 or Mickey Peabody at 847-4779. Again, all are welcome to attend.

The 18th Annual Cowboy Christmas Gift and Craft Show, meanwhile, is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 27 at the Gene Bianchi Community Center. Doors will open at 9 a.m. and the event lasts until 4 p.m. 

“This event really kicks off the holiday season,” said Oakdale Cowboy Museum President Bill Sanguinetti. “And the cowboy theme fits our community of western traditions perfectly!”

There will be more than 50 exhibitors that will be taking over the inside and outside plaza of the community center. This is a popular event that draws both exhibitors and shoppers from as far away as Red Bluff to the North and Fresno to the South.

“You’ll find a little bit of everything most with a western flair but lots of variety, too,” said Christie Camarillo, Executive Director of the Cowboy Museum.

But shopping isn’t all that brings the crowds out. Cowboy Santa, a popular attraction, will ride in on horseback at 11 a.m. and be available until 3 p.m. for photos and visits with children.

In addition, museum volunteer Clare Moran will be signing her new book, ‘Ghost Towns of the Mother Lode Hills.’ Moran has been volunteering at the Cowboy Museum every Friday for the past 11 years. (See story and photo, page B12.) The book signing will begin at noon.

Proceeds from the book are being donated to the Oakdale Cowboy Museum.

Also making a guest appearance at the Cowboy Christmas event will be a local crafter that makes (mini) stagecoaches. After an injury in 1961, left cement contractor David Baker of Manteca disabled, he began trying his hand at different crafts. Having a passion for western history, he started researching stagecoaches. Baker created his own blue prints and uses fence pickets to create custom coaches that stand 18.5 inches long, 8 inches high, 7 inches wide before adding the wheels. He wallpapers inside the coach and upholsters the seats. Each piece takes about three weeks to complete and he will be taking orders for custom stagecoaches. Stop by and visit Baker from 10 a.m. to noon.