LITCHFIELD — After more than a year of sacrifices due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mainers from Litchfield to Oakland to Skowhegan expressed thankfulness Thursday as they saw a return of annual community Thanksgiving traditions put on hold a year ago.

TURKEY WITH A SIDE OF ‘JAM’ IN LITCHFIELD

At the Litchfield Sportsman’s Club Thanksgiving Dinner, it was a family affair.

Connie Fletcher, the club’s secretary, along with her two sons and daughter-in-law, started cooking at 10 a.m. for the big day — they prepped 96 seats with help from Fletcher’s four granddaughters and prepared four turkeys, along with 50 pounds of potatoes and 12 to 13 boxes of stuffing.

Fletcher has been involved with the event every year since its inception in 2009. Attendees eat right on the dot at 1 p.m., and after dinner, Fletcher said they have “a jam session” with people who bring their instruments.

The event is open for everyone, not just folks who are part of the club, which numbers about 30, Fletcher said.

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“Every year we have new faces and those faces turn into repeat faces,” Fletcher told the Kennebec Journal ahead of the event. On Thursday she was proven correct as most of the people who showed up to the dinner were there for the very first time.

Though the Litchfield Sportsman’s Club has been around since 1950, it has only offered the annual Thanksgiving dinner since 2009. The club promotes outdoor activities, such as fishing and hunting, and provides education around the activities. In addition to the annual dinner, the club hosts a May fishing derby and a Halloween haunted house for children and their families.

People started showing up around 11:30 a.m., with plates and food in hand as each person who attends is expected to bring a side dish. The running joke, Fletcher said, is “if we end up with 43 green bean casseroles, so be it,” but it has never been the case.

As of 11:30 a.m., most of the food brought were desserts, including a coconut cake, a sheet cake and peanut butter cookies.

“The year before COVID-19, one person brought three squashes, that was the only duplicate,” Fletcher said. “But even then, they were all prepared differently.”

That same year, around 60 people came to the dinner. The oldest person in attendance was 100 and the youngest was 3 weeks old. Fletcher said families will come if they do not have enough room at home and single people will come to eat alongside others.

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Fletcher’s granddaughters helped out, with 6-year-old Luna Hatke running around excited to try the desserts and play with her cousins.

Because of the pandemic last year, the club did not host Thanksgiving dinner.

Carol Royea, a member of the club, brought her daughter, Tracy Wing. Royea has attended the event every year, but it was Wing’s first time. Wing came to be a part of the community because at home, she said, she would have been alone.

“The whole point is to come!” Wing said.

When the eating is done, the musicians take the stage.

Diane Hanscom brought her drum set and Fletcher brought her bass. Together, they are in the all-woman band Lost & Found. They frequently play at the Sportsman’s Club and look forward to playing after everyone is done eating.

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Hanscom comes each year for the people, she said, and came for the first time in 2010 when she first moved to Litchfield.

“Why not do it,” Fletcher said. “Music brings people together.”

HOMEMADE DRIVE-THRU IN SKOWHEGAN

Further north in Skowhegan, the town’s Parks and Rec department offered both to-go and delivery options for residents to get fully-cooked Thanksgiving meals. The annual event has run for at least 10 years, said Denise LeBlanc, director of the parks and rec department.

The department has always offered the delivery option, she said, but before the pandemic they would hold an in-person meal as well. The to-go option was still popular with people, and as the event kicked off at 11 a.m. there was a line of cars down the street in front of the Skowhegan Community Center.

With clear blue skies and brisk weather, it certainly felt like a classic fall holiday. Those picking up meals just had to pull their car up, and a volunteer would check how many meals they were picking up before bringing out the food — a homemade drive-thru meal.

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Inside the community center, the floors were lined with white bags full of food — turkey, gravy, dessert and some even included a Thanksgiving card from local elementary school students. Although the cooking started Wednesday, there were still people back in the kitchen Thursday packing more food.

“That’s what it’s all about, everybody coming together, sharing the holidays and a warm meal,” LeBlanc said.

The department had about 250 people call ahead earlier in the week to preorder meals, LeBlanc said, but she expected many more to arrive today, and estimated that they could reach 400 meals.

Bruce York, a Skowhegan resident, stopped by to pick up food and said that he has come to the in-person meal in the past. The to-go option this year is still a good way to get a holiday meal he said.

The event is supported by donations from local businesses and residents, LeBlanc said, a community effort that is even more meaningful during the pandemic.

“The support of the community to make it happen is overwhelming — especially during the pandemic,” LeBlanc said.

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COMMUNITY OUTREACH IN OAKLAND

Volunteers at the annual Thanksgiving dinner at Messalonskee High School in Oakland felt the support from the community, too.

Girl Scouts from the Arnold Trail Troop contributed 143 pies and Maggie Sollis’ class from Ralph M. Atwood Primary School in Oakland donated 40 pies to the event. Volunteers at the Messalonskee dinner packaged up meals to go for people and used 18 packs of turkey breasts.

People were welcome to sit down for their meal this year, too. The dinner has been held since 1990 and usually attracts around 1,000 people.

“They just come back year after year, we have been lucky, we are blessed to be there,” said Mike Marston, one of the event organizers.


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