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Highlands Today

Inmates To Gobble Up Turkey Dinners

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

From left: Kitchen supervisor Juanita Landers helps trusty Michael Fleming with preparing a turkey on Wednesday at the Highlands County Jail. The sheriff's office is planning to feed all the inmates a special turkey meal for Thanksgiving.

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By Joe  Seelig | Highlands Today

Published: November 22, 2007

SEBRING — Inmates in the Highlands County Jail will be served a special turkey dinner today.
With Tuesday's jail population bulging at 453, the cooks, along with supervised inmates, are preparing a special Thanksgiving lunch, said Detention Maj. David Paeplow.

Each inmate will get three ounces of meat, a half-cup of green beens, half-cup corn, half-cup of dressing, a roll, two ounces of cranberry, an eight-ounce serving of mashed potatoes, one piece of cake and sweet tea.

But jail is jail. Inmates won't get a choice of white or dark meat, Paeplow said, and no seconds.
"They get whatever is put on their plates," he said.
The meals are delivered on insulated trays, similar to those used in hospitals, to each individual housing unit, he said.

As with all meals served within the facility the menu has to be approved by a professional nutritionist, he said.
The kitchen is part of what sheriff's detention Lt. Frank Worden oversees on a daily basis. He said the inmates are going to be served a very healthy and appetizing meal.

"We're very proud of our kitchen staff," Worden said. "They serve a lot of great meals out of there and they're very proud of their work."

Supervising the kitchen Wednesday was Juanita Landers who has been with the sheriff's office for four years. She was being helped Wednesday by Juanita Wehrman, a cook who was helping prepare dinner.

Landers prepared six turkeys averaging 26 pounds each, on Wednesday, to feed 444 inmates, (Wednesday's count). All six birds fit into one large commercial oven, she said. The inmates will also be eating 185 pounds of potatoes, three large cases of string beans, three cases of corn, nine cans of cranberry and seven extra-large cakes.

"The turkeys go in at 4 (a.m.) and they're done by 8 (a.m.)," Landers said.
She said she enjoys preparing this special meal for the inmates. Then she gets to do it all over again at home for her family. Her home recipe is about the same, she said.

The sheriff's office employs five cooks with another being hired on Monday. About 20 inmate trustys help out daily in the kitchen, Worden said.
The jail will not grant any special privileges to any inmate, such as spending time with family, during the holidays, Paeplow said.

It does have video visitation where family members are allowed time on a telephone with a video screen. However, it will be business as usual today, Paeplow said.

No video visitation will be allowed unless the inmate is on the schedule to receive one. Telephone calls are allowed all day from morning when the telephones are turned on, until they are shut off at night.

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