By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

Thanksgiving is associated not only with an abundance of food but also with lots of family gathering around the supper table.

However, not everybody has the opportunity to be with family on this date. Therefore, to fill this void, around the nation, churches and community centers provide free meals on Thanksgiving Day.

At the Bridgton Alliance Church, an old tradition was revived after a church member glimpsed upon a photo.

“My friend Crystal Meek came to me one day after seeing a picture of the church’s kitchen because it sparked memories of the Thanksgiving dinner that her grandmother used to run when she was younger. We pulled together our ideas and brought this idea to my parents (Pastor) Mike and Lisa Zullo. And so, it began — Crystal’s grandmother’s vision of feeding the community was coming back to life,” according to Jessica Collamati, the pastor’s adult daughter who is currently in charge of the Thanksgiving Community Dinner.

Collamati received a delightful compliment about the dinner.

“One comment that really stood out to me was a couple that came to me before they left to say that the food was the best tasting Thanksgiving meal they ever had. She looked up and said, ‘Sorry mom,’” she said.

“We had two unique visitors this year as well. Two friends who were hiking through Mount Washington rolled through Bridgton looking for a place to eat. Finding everything was closed for the night, they stopped at the gas station on Main Street and the cashier told them that the church was hosting a meal. They made their way over to us and not only did they have a nice warm meal but they stayed after to help with clean up as well,” Collamati said. “These two friends were from Paris, France. So, they traveled quite a way just to end up at our Thanksgiving dinner.”

Since 2020, when the public dinner was re-ignited, the event has evolved. This past Thursday was the fourth year.  

“Myself and Crystal Meek lead the Thanksgiving dinner right from the beginning. The first year was a whirlwind of chaos. The idea only came to fruition shortly before the event was supposed to happen. It was a scramble to pull together the organization, volunteers and donations. Crystal and myself started food prep the Sunday before and were at the church each night leading up, some nights until 2 a.m. By the end of Thursday night, we were all burnt-out and hurting,” she recalls.

Less chaos, more people as years go by

“Fast forward to this year, our fourth year, and we are much more organized and there is a calm and low stress that covered us the whole week,” Collamati said.

All the work is a worthwhile endeavor because of the end result: People eating together on Thanksgiving.

“Even if our dinner reaches just one person who needs either a warm meal or a new friend to sit and enjoy a warm meal with then all of our work was worth it. It warms my heart to be able to cook for people and bring them an experience that brings joy into their heart,” Collamati said.

The number of attendees has grown although it leveled out this past week thanks to the snowstorm. 

“Our first year we had a little less than 100 people in attendance. The next year, it was a little more than 100. Our third year was 166 people. This year, we had a count of 115 people. I believe that the number this year didn’t show the normal growth of the dinner due to the snow storm that rolled in the whole day. We foresee our numbers for next year to be [more than] 200,” Collamati said.

“Even with the snow, we were thrilled to have the volunteer turnout that we did and the people that braved the storm to come eat with us,” she said.

It takes lot of food to feed a community.

“Twenty (20) turkeys, six hams, 50 pounds of potatoes, 16 large cans of yams, 15 boxes of stuffing. I did not get an exact count of the desserts but they filled two 8-foot-long tables and a 4-foot table as well,” she said.

Helping hands make meal more merry

“The food for this meal is donated by mostly people in the Bridgton Alliance Church, along with some donations from the people in the community. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, we put a bulletin board in the foyer of the church with notecards of what we will need for food items and everyone takes the cards that they’d like to bring in on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Once all the food is organized and counted that Sunday, Crystal and I along with another friend Yvonne Meek take the money donations that had been given and do a shopping trip for whatever is left on the list,” Collamati explained.

“This year we had around 30 volunteers. Most of the volunteers are members of the Bridgton Alliance Church however we also had volunteers show up from other churches in the area and from the community,” Collamati said.  

“The Town of Bridgton has a very strong sense of caring for others. Two organizations that really pop out to me are the Bridgton Food Pantry and Lake Region Recovery Center. In Bridgton, there are so many resources for those in need as well as many in the community who love to serve,” she said.

“Caring for others is one of our core values and as a church we want to bring up the younger generations to love helping others. The night before Thanksgiving, the youth group got together and made a whole array of desserts including cookies, cheesecakes, and brownies. They had so much fun preparing desserts for all the guests that would be coming on Thanksgiving Day,” she said.

“It’s so important for us all to help each other. When you see someone in need, don’t just walk by. We are all in this life together and should be helping to raise others up and bring joy to each other,” Collamati concluded. 

A restaurant that could be closed

A few miles away from the church exists a very busy diner in town. While many restaurants give employees the day off on Thanksgiving, The Morning Glory Diner instead treats the community to a free meal on this November holiday.

“Yes, we could charge for the meal or close down completely, but we decided to do our part in giving back to the community on this day,” according to The Morning Glory’s owner Brittany Tarr.

Her family started the decade-long practice.

“My mom Terri Perrault Evans and my stepdad Jon Evans actually started the tradition. I’m not 100 percent sure how they fell onto the topic of providing a free meal to the town since it was so many years ago. But they had started this tradition when all of us kids were older and they weren’t doing anything on Thanksgiving Day,” Tarr said.

“Since my husband and I took over, we helped continue this tradition. My mom and Jon are still very much the root of this tradition though,” she said.

“This is our 10th year providing a free meal to those in need for Thanksgiving,” she said.

She recapped how this year went.

“We served about 63 meals which is pretty average. Some years have been higher, some have been lower. The snowstorm didn’t seem to keep many people home, which was such a blessing,” she said. 

She expressed her thankfulness.

“We could never do this without our many sponsors or volunteers, or the help of the Morning Glory staff for prepping the day prior,” Tarr said. “We hope to continue this tradition for many, many more years to come.”