Volunteers make pies Tuesday for the Messalonskee Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Messalonskee High School in Oakland. About 70 Girl Scouts, leaders and parents made 200 pies for the meal, a tradition in Oakland that will run 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday in the Messalonskee High School cafeteria. Admission is free. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

OAKLAND — Every year for the last few decades, Oakland-area Girl Scouts have gathered at Messalonskee High School in the days before Thanksgiving to bake hundreds of pies that will be handed out at the school’s community dinner later in the week.

That tradition continued Tuesday when about two dozen Scouts from troops in Waterville, Oakland and Benton prepared to bake more than 200 apple, pumpkin, cherry and Oreo pies.

“We make a mess, but by 4:30 when all the pies are in the oven you wouldn’t even know we were here,” says Donna Rueger, who has led the tradition for the last 20 years or so.

The pies will be handed out and delivered to hundreds of local residents Thursday at the Messalonskee Community Thanksgiving Dinner in Oakland.

Baking Thanksgiving pies for the dinner has become a tradition for the several Girl Scout troops Rueger has led over the last two decades. While she’s lost track of when exactly the tradition began, she says that’s not the important part anyway.

“It’s really not about how long we’ve been at it. I mean, I might be doing this even after I retire, as long as I live here,” Rueger said. “It’s about the community and about the little girls and the people we’re feeding.”

Girl Scouts, from left, Sophia Tracy and Avery Gurski, both 7, join Emersyn Pierce, 6, as they make pies Tuesday at Messalonskee High School in Oakland to be handed out at the Messalonskee Community Thanksgiving Dinner, set for Thursday. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

One of those little girls was Lydia Higgins, an 8-year-old member of Troop 1642 from Benton. This was her second year baking pies for the dinner.

Fairfield Girl Scout Gracie Buck, 8, right, and mother Lori Buck, a Scout leader, laugh Tuesday as they and other Scouts, leaders and parents make pies at Messalonskee High School for the Messalonskee Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“I like baking but I’ve never really made pies before,” she said. “I like Oreo pie best. I’m going to make that one first.”

This is the 17th dinner volunteer Jessica Garten is helping organize. When she started, most other volunteers were elder community members helping give back. Now, she says many of the 100-odd volunteers helping cook and serve food at the dinner are local students.

“I want to incorporate the younger generations, because they need to take it over for us someday,” Garten said. “Last year, you looked in the kitchen and it was all students. This is how we get them involved. It just warms my heart to see all these kids that want to volunteer on a holiday.”

The Messalonskee Community Thanksgiving Dinner is being held from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday in Messalonskee High School’s cafeteria at 131 Messalonskee High Drive in Oakland.