BANGOR – Tommy Baron pedaled four miles from Brewer looking for a hot meal and warm place to eat it Thursday. He found it at Captain Nick’s, a Bangor restaurant that for years has been serving Thanksgiving Day meals for free.

Baron, a veteran and self described loner who doesn’t cook on his own, had sought out family and another veteran to share a meal with, but came up empty. Then the 54-year-old remembered Captain Nick’s on Union Street where he’s eaten Thanksgiving meals before.

The thought of the meal ahead of him kept him pedaling.

After the meal, Baron sat comfortably in the restaurant’s waiting area, talking to people as they went by and reflecting on the meal he had just eaten. It reminded him of simpler times and the home-cooked meals his mother used to make. He couldn’t be sure which was better, mom’s cooking or, dare he say it, Captain Nick’s.

“I don’t know if mom could match it, but if anyone could, she could,” Baron said.

Regardless, it was a top-notch meal.

“You’ve got to leave this place with a smile on your face and a full belly or something’s wrong,” he said, as he waited a bit before putting on his gloves and hopping back onto his bike to return home.

Captain Nick’s on Thursday used a combination of regular employees and volunteers to prepare and serve the meal. About 300 meals were served at the restaurant and another 80 to 100 meals were delivered to the Bangor House, an elderly housing complex, said regular waitress Janis Adams, whose job included greeting people as they came in. Owners George and Kim Brountas have been holding the event for 16 years, she said.

Jeff Harris hovered around the tables asking how people were doing and whether they needed anything. He handed them their meals, which included pie for dessert. Harris, director of housing and residential life at Eastern Maine Technical College, has spent his last 10 Thanksgivings at Captain Nick’s to help others.

“I can have Thanksgiving anytime,” said Harris, who had been at Captain Nick’s since about 9:15 a.m. helping the restaurant with preparations.

Harris said tough times can happen to anyone, pointing out that over the years he’s seen people he knew, including some former students, who had fallen on hard times.

“It’s important to treat everybody with respect and dignity and I try to do that,” he said.

Elsewhere in the city, U.S. Rep. John Baldacci and Bangor City Councilor Dan Tremble joined administrators from Bangor Mental Health Institute in serving the traditional day’s meal to patients in the institute’s geriatric wing.

Macy was one of 18 patients in the wing who enjoyed eating turkey. At one point she questioned Baldacci about cooking the gizzard, which apparently had been removed before the turkey was cooked. Both Macy and Baldacci looked for the gizzard but couldn’t find it.

Macy said she likes to eat the gizzard, but Baldacci – whose family runs Momma Baldacci’s Italian Restaurant in Bangor – had a pointer for her about another use for the gizzard.

“All you do is get the gizzard and put it in hot water, you get a nice broth,” Baldacci told her. Macy also told Baldacci to say hi to his mother and that while she prefers Chinese food, she’d like to try Italian food sometime.

Baldacci, who is running for governor this year, has been making Thanksgiving Day visits to BMHI since 1986. Baldacci pointed out that while it is important to visit the mentally ill and shut-ins throughout the year, it’s much more important to do so on holidays when they would like to be with family but can’t.

Only two people in the wing were able to leave with family for Thanksgiving this year and just a few others had visits from family, said Mary Louise McEwen, acting BMHI superintendent.

“I think it’s more important during the holiday season to make sure that you reach out and you’re there alongside both the people who are working and the people who they’re working with,” Baldacci said.