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Volunteers plan for another Brattleboro Community Thanksgiving Dinner
BRATTLEBORO—The Brattleboro Community Thanksgiving Dinner committee issues its annual invitation to, well, everyone.
Since its first dinner 41 years ago at the former Common Ground restaurant on Elliot Street, the Community Thanksgiving Dinner has opened its doors and filled the stomachs of diners from Brattleboro, students staying through the holiday break, and even travelers just passing through town — free.
According to member Ray Branagan, the Community Thanksgiving Dinner committee fell apart briefly after the Common Ground closed, but the current committee has been together nine years.
The all-volunteer brigade of cooks, servers, runners, drivers, and dishwashers prepare, serve, and clean up a Thanksgiving dinner that feeds an estimated 500 people.
This year’s meal will be served at the River Garden on Thanksgiving Day — Thursday, Nov. 22 — from noon to 5 p.m.
The committee also arranges to deliver meals to homebound community members.
“It’s 2{1/2} weeks away,” said committee member Lindsay Cobb at a recent planning meeting.
“You’re just a killjoy,” Peter Wiles, who coordinates meal drivers, responded, laughing.
The goal of the committee, which has been meeting since September, has always been to provide the best Thanksgiving that it can, said Katherine Barratt, treasurer.
This year, members hope more musicians will volunteer to perform during the five-hour meal service. Music “just goes with a Thanksgiving buffet,” Barratt said.
Music slows people down, Wiles added.
Last year’s Community Thanksgiving landed on the heels of upheaval with the Brooks House Fire, fatal shootings at the Brattleboro Food Co-op and in Dummerston, and Tropical Storm Irene.
“Every dinner is a success in its own way,” said Barratt. The dinner is a chance “to celebrate the community, whether we’ve had a disaster or not.”
Cobb joked that after Tuesday’s general election, people might change their views about gratitude.
“No politics at Thanksgiving,” replied Barratt.
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