Preparations are underway for the 2005 Lakes Region Dinner of Giving Thanks, a Thanksgiving Day dinner where all are welcome. The annual community celebration takes place on Thursday, Nov. 24, which is Thanksgiving Day. The menu includes oven-roasted turkey, along with turkey stuffing, brown gravy, mashed potatoes, vegetables, breads, cakes and pies.

In addition to the Thanksgiving Day dinner, that morning, volunteers will be out delivering hot turkey dinners to local Meals on Wheels recipients and to others who are not able to attend the dinner.

“Thanksgiving is a national holiday in which Americans give thanks for our many blessings. What a fabulous opportunity this dinner has become for breaking bread with our neighbors, giving thanks and meeting new friends in the Lakes Region community,” explained the event’s founder and Raymond resident, Brad McCurtain. “The dinner is truly a product of the community, which culminates in some of the finest fellowship and friendship imaginable among our Lakes Region neighbors.”

The dinner is made possible through the generosity of area restaurants and supermarkets, students at Windham High School, and from the help of countless volunteers from area churches. Students hold a can drive to gather many of the non-perishable items. Area restaurants donate and cook turkeys. The three major supermarkets always seem to come through with all of the other food that is needed. Volunteers from area churches coordinate all of the many volunteers who help out on Thanksgiving Day.

This year, students at Windham High School have adopted the dinner as a student project. In addition to the school-wide can drive, Diane Leavitt’s BuSim students learned how to write a Press Release, how to contact the media, and they are helping to spread word out into the community about the dinner.

As in past years, the dinner is FREE and everyone is welcome. Donations will be accepted to help end hunger in the Lakes Region area.

“Many citizens love coming back each year for the fabulous meal and fellowship. But, we also understand that working people can feel a little uncomfortable accepting a free meal,” McCurtain said. “So, this year, people can make donations and all of these donations will go toward one or more projects that help end hunger in the Lakes Region.”

The dinner is held in the Parish Hall of the North Windham Union Church on Route 302. The church is located at 723 Roosevelt Trail (Route 302) in downtown Windham, across the road from the fire station. Dinner will be served between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.