MHS Annual Free Thanksgiving Dinner
Every year they come in droves: calls to the Turkey Hotline to get information on the annual Thanksgiving Day meal at Messalonskee High School.
Some call to find out the hours for the free sit-down dinner in the cafeteria; others call to order the Thanksgiving fixings, which, like the meal, are delivered at no charge. And every turkey roasted, every pie baked, every potato mashed is produced and provided by an army of volunteers, both young and old.
Mike Perkins, one of the organizers of the event for the last two decades, always emphasizes that those who call are just as hungry for fellowship as they are for the food.
Messalonskee JMG teacher Skip Bessey, a longtime volunteer at the event, confirms this.
“I have been doing this for nine years,” he said, “and it is the same demographic and the same people who come to the meal and get meals delivered.”
That demographic tends to be older residents of Oakland and surrounding towns, many of whom no longer have families nearby to break bread with on Thanksgiving Day.
They long for the joyful memories of Thanksgiving Day with a full table of loved ones, Bessey said. The Messalonskee meal, he said, “is a way to bring the memories back to life and have that connection still.”
To sign up for Thanksgiving Meal Delivery or for more information, please call the Turkey Hotline @ 207-431-1050.