Free Thanksgiving dinner served up in Guilford

GUILFORD – They came from nearly every corner of Piscataquis County Thursday to break bread together and to munch on lots of turkey and trimmings.

More than 40 people gave special thanks to about a dozen volunteers who opened their hearts to include the community at Thanksgiving.

For the fourth consecutive year, Kirsty Pratley of Guilford organized a free Thanksgiving meal for any person or family in the Piscataquis County region.

“It’s just a desire to share the sense of blessing we have here in the community, in our county, in our country and in our world,” Pratley said Thursday of her efforts.

Pratley had plenty of help from the community at large. She solicited the turkeys and trimmings from community members who delivered the cooked items Thursday morning to the centrally located Guilford United Methodist Church, where the nondenominational meal was served.

“People are very giving,” Pratley said as residents carried in crockpots of mashed potatoes, bowls of turnips, golden pies and pans of chocolate brownies. The items were taken into the kitchen where Gloria and Clifford Leighton of Guilford kept them hot or cold until serving time. The Leightons have been a fixture since the first year. Their son, Dale Leighton, and his wife, Diana, of Union and their daughter, Vicki Corrington, and her husband, Ben, of Camden pitched in where needed.

While it’s not part of his municipal duty, Guilford Town Manager Tom Goulette donated his time Thursday to carve the turkeys while Guilford resident Stephanie Cartwright helped set the tables and served meals. Pratley even managed to convince co-worker Nikki Chadwick of Milo to join in. Chadwick, supervisor of nursing at Mayo Regional Hospital, had no problem working for others on the holiday, she said.

Those efforts were not lost on those who attended the dinner.

For Robert and Dorothy Knowlton of Monson, the meal was a welcome addition to the holiday. It was an opportunity to forget the cooking and enjoy the camaraderie of others.

“It doesn’t work to cook for two people,” Dorothy Knowlton said Thursday.

“Our family is in another state and couldn’t get here so this sounded like a good idea,” Knowlton said as she munched on a piece of homemade pie. “It’s delicious.”

When Hubert and Ethel Lewis of Abbot found themselves alone for the holiday, they decided to attend the meal but volunteered as well.

“We’ve had fun,” Ethel Lewis said.