Festive centerpieces make holiday meals a little more special. For some people, colorful flowers or the soft glow of candles to do the trick, but Rebecca Hawkins, 16, had other ideas.

And the Meals for Me home delivery recipients in the Bangor area couldn’t be happier.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Hawkins and her mother, Margaret – armed with big hearts, yards of orange netting, pipe cleaners and candy – fashioned 170 little turkeys guaranteed to produce smiles, “oohs” and “ahs” from diners and volunteers alike.

“It started out because colleges are looking for community service,” said Hawkins, a Central High School student from Kenduskeag. “But I realized I really like doing it – and it’s important.”

The pair spent 10 hours making the turkeys, which also provided some quality mother-daughter time.

“She thinks my ideas are really cool,” Hawkins said of her proud mother’s opinion. “And that makes me feel good. She appreciates me for doing this.”

As do others.

“That turkey is still on our table. We thought it was adorable,” said diner Ruth Crosby, 86. “We just couldn’t believe it. It was so cute.”

“Everyone who comes in loves it,” said Howard Crosby, 83, agreeing with his wife. “It’s nice to think of some young person thinking to do that.”

The success of the turkeys kept this mother-daughter team on a roll. As Christmas approached, the pair got busy.

The Pine Tree State yields an abundance of perfect miniature Christmas trees: pinecones. Once spray-painted green, the cones were adorned with beads and glitter. But not just any pinecones, mind you. These specimens had to be just right.

Fearful of a snowfall, which could hide the potential centerpieces, Margaret Hawkins ventured outside her office with a plastic bag in search of large, perfectly shaped pinecones. Passers-by had no way of knowing that the woman, whose coat was being violently whipped about her on those particularly windy days, was on a mission of good will. She couldn’t imagine the thoughts going through the drivers’ minds, she said, but no matter; her goal was clear.

With a gathering technique squirrels might envy, Margaret Hawkins had her wares. A few of the pinecones needed to be refined to perfection, however.

“I had to put some of them in the toaster oven so they would open,” she said.

Like the Thanksgiving turkeys, these little Christmas trees also took 10 hours to produce. But for Rebecca and Margaret Hawkins the time was well spent – it was time together amid the busyness of the season.

“My mom and I are pretty close,” said the younger Hawkins. “The trees were more fun to do because you could make each tree different. And it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. I feel like what we did was really important, and it’s also important to give back.”

It is probably not possible for Hawkins to truly know the impact her effort has made on the lives of seniors. And while making these centerpieces was her first sojourn into the world of volunteering, it surely won’t be her last. In fact, she is already thinking about Valentine’s Day and Easter.

Little did she know that the hours of her work could give way to years of enjoyment.

“I think [the centerpieces] are very thoughtful and very nice. I always keep them and put them with my decorations,” said Leona Cullins, 67. “It is also nice to think that someone that age is thinking about someone my age.”

Perhaps that’s the best gift of all.

“I hope they liked [the centerpieces] and I hope it brightened their day,” said Hawkins. “And that it reminds them that people are thinking of them.”

Indeed it does.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865 or log on www.eaaa.org.