HOULTON, Maine — A hot, traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings is synonymous with Thanksgiving, but not everyone is able to cook a large meal.
For many, the high cost of creating such a feast is simply not feasible, while for others it is a matter of being alone during the holiday, which makes it impractical to create such a large meal.
Thankfully, there are places like St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Houlton who provide turkey dinners on the holiday.
“We started cooking Wednesday, with a large group of volunteers helping out,” Deacon Al Burleigh said. “We had to prepare about 150 pounds of potatoes, thanks to Albert and Erica Fitzpatrick, while County Yankee supplied 150 pounds of squash and Andy’s IGA cooked all the turkeys.”
Burleigh estimated they made five gallons of gravy for the dinners. Each meal also included a slice of pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, cranberry and a dinner roll.
Although the event was not slated to begin until 11:30 a.m., a long line of vehicles had already formed by 10:45 a.m. Church volunteers distributed 220 meals and actually ran out of meals before the event’s scheduled ending at 1:30 p.m.
“Once we got it all packaged up, the crowd started arriving, so we are very thankful for the volunteers who came out today to help,” Burleigh said.
Traditionally, the church would offer a sit-down meal at the church, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, such a feast was not possible this year.
“We couldn’t do that this year, unfortunately,” he said. “It’s been a tradition for so many years, that people were just happy we were still able to do something. And it is sorely needed this year.”
Another unfortunate element of COVID-19 is that parishioners were unable to provide homemade pies for the feast. “We had to stick with all store-bought pies this year, just to keep everyone safe,” Burliegh said.
The deacon noted that some of those coming for meals were also picking up dinners for others who may have been shut-ins or unable to get to the church.
“Good bless those people for doing that,” he said. “People are always generous and there is always a need.”
A group of volunteers spent Thanksgiving Day morning at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Houlton to prepare free turkey dinners. (Photo courtesy of Clare Desrosiers)
Vehicles line the street at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church Thursday morning for free Thanksgiving meals. This year’s event was a drive-thru only meal, with about 220 turkey dinners distributed. (Photo courtesy of Clare Desrosiers)
A table filled with turkey dinners is ready to be distributed Thursday, Nov. 27, for Thanksgiving at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Houlton. (Photo courtesy of Clare Desrosiers)
