Need a holiday meal?

A number of charities and churches, and even a restaurant or two, plan to provide for those in need what may be their only meal on Thanksgiving Day. Among those planning to serve free meals Thursday are:

• Seattle Union Gospel Mission Men's Shelter, 318 Second Ave. Free breakfast, 7 to 8:30 a.m., and dinner for the homeless, 5 to 7 p.m.

• The Hall at Fauntleroy, at the School Building, 9131 California Ave. S.W. Dinner from noon to 3 p.m.

• The Salvation Army's William Booth Center, 811 Maynard Ave. S. Dinner, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Westgate Chapel, 22901 Edmonds Way, Edmonds, 11 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

• Mount Zion Baptist Church, 1634 19th Ave., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, 205 108th Ave. N.E., Bellevue, meals for needy Eastside families, noon to 4 p.m.

• In Tacoma, the Emergency Food Network hosts free dinner at Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall, 2727 East D St., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Thanksgiving holiday preview

Get your banking done today. Banks and credit unions will be closed Thursday. But they'll be open regular hours Friday.

Because Thursday is a holiday, most city, county and state offices, including the Governor's Office in Olympia and U.S. Court of Appeals offices in Seattle, will be closed. Federal offices will be closed, too. Some government offices also will be closed Friday. Department of Licensing offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, but some will be open Saturday. A list is online at www.dol.wa.gov.

Post offices will be closed, with no delivery except express mail Thursday. Regular mail delivery will resume Friday. Public libraries will be closed Thursday, as will state liquor stores and schools.

Puget Sound Blood Centers will be closed Thursday but open Friday. Garbage, recycling and yard-waste pickup for Seattle residents will be suspended Thursday, but pickups are scheduled Friday for households usually served Thursday; regular Friday collection will be Saturday. Seattle's recycling and disposal stations will be closed Thursday but open Friday.

Signs of the season

The Qwest Holiday Carousel is back at Westlake Park, at Fourth Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle, for the holiday season. The rest of the park will feature a holiday wonderland theme, with decorated nutcracker sculptures. Live entertainment is scheduled each weekend through Dec. 24.

Macy's day-after-Thanksgiving Day parade at 9 a.m. Friday may attract up to 50,000 spectators. The parade will begin at Seventh Avenue and Pine Street, head along Fifth to University Street, west on Fourth Avenue and end at Macy's at Fourth Avenue and Pine.

The 21,500 lights will be illuminated on the 60-foot-high holiday tree at Westlake Center Friday. A lighting ceremony is planned from 5 to 5:45 p.m.

The large star on Macy's flagship store downtown also will be illuminated, and there will be fireworks.

Because of the parade and the lighting ceremony, traffic on some streets will be diverted. Some buses will be rerouted. Streets should be reopened by 6:30 or 7 p.m.

Information is online at www.westlakecenter.com, or call 206-467-3044.

Getting around

Washington State Ferries' Anacortes/San Juan Islands routes will operate on Saturday sailing schedule today and on regular weekday schedule Thursday. No Seattle/Vashon passenger-only service is scheduled Thanksgiving Day.

Here & Now is compiled by Seattle Times staff reporter Charles E. Brown and news assistant Suesan Whitney Henderson.

To submit an item, e-mail herenow@ seattletimes.com or call 206-464-2226.