On Thanksgiving Day, Joann Groder will rise at 2 a.m. to slide another turkey into an oven, as the Pythian Sisters of Buxton cook their second annual free dinner.

“If you can walk in that door, you can eat,” said Joann Groder, most excellent chief of the sisters.

The sisters fed 102 people last year, and they’re already busy preparing this year’s dinner, which will be served from noon to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 24, at the Narragansett Temple #111 in Buxton Center. The sisters are inviting the needy, elderly and lonely to join them for a full course dinner with turkey and all the fixings.

In addition to Buxton, Diners last year came from surrounding communities like Scarborough, South Portland, Saco and Gorham. This year the sisters expect again to serve elderly from Elwell’s Farm in Buxton in addition to 11 residents of Day One of Hollis, a voluntary treatment center for adolescents and young adults recovering from substance abuses. The Day One residents don’t go home for Thanksgiving.

Lori Duboif, program manager at Day One, said the residents, ages 16 to 24, would help set up and then clean up after they dine. “For a lot of them, it’s their first sober Thanksgiving in a few years,” Duboif said.

Duboif said the Pythian Sisters made them feel welcome last year, and Day One residents will prepare food and take it with them, although they weren’t asked for anything. The sisters are a good example and the dinner teaches the kids to give back, Duboif said.

Most of the food is cooked on two stoves in the kitchen at the Pythian Sisters’ building. Carol Moore of Buxton, one of the sisters, said one turkey would be deep fried as a special treat.

The sisters, who live in surrounding towns, will employ teamwork to make the dinner a success. Natalie Marshall of Buxton will work alongside her mother, Geneann Mayo of Limington, in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. Ellen Emery of Standish will fill dishes on tables. Kim Jacques of Buxton will again decorate tables with pumpkins and floral arrangements.

Volunteering to help with the dinner is a family affair for Cynthia Gorham of Buxton, who helps organize the event, although she’s not a member of the Pythian Sisters. Gorham is Groder’s daughter. Gorham and her husband, Keith Gorham, and their five children helped serve dinner last year.

The Gorhams will help again this year without Cynthia Gorham, who will be on duty at her job as a paramedic in Scarborough. Last year’s event was “very festive,” she said.

She said rides could be available for those without transportation. “You don’t want anyone to stay home alone on Thanksgiving,” Gorham said. “Thanksgiving is supposed to be family and friends.”

Gorham’s daughters, Sara Gorham, 11, and Kendra Gorham, 10, sold hot dogs at a recent auction in the Pythian Sister’s hall to raise money for the dinner. Donated manpower is an integral part of the dinner’s success and Buxton Selectman Jean Harmon is among those making it work.

One volunteer just showed up unannounced last year on Thanksgiving morning and the extra muscle came in handy. The man went to work carving turkeys. He “knocked on the back door and offered to volunteer,” Moore said.

The local community has rallied again this year, donating food, cash and homegrown vegetables to support the dinner. Gorham Tractor in Buxton and Silvex in Westbrook have donated turkeys. Other donors include Plummer’s Store, Estes’ Farm, Donut Shop, Mike’s Fancy Cakes, Andy Townsend and Tory Hill CafA?©, all of Buxton; Kings Farm Market, Gorham; Poland Spring, Hollis; and Oakhurst Dairy, Portland. Groder said the Buxton Taxpayers Association gave a “large” cash donation.

Groder said more money is still needed to buy necessities, like paper plates and napkins. She also said onions and turnips are needed.

On Tuesday, 14 of the organization’s 26 sisters will peel vegetables, including 100 pounds of potatoes. “We’ve all worked hard for the last month planning this,” said Groder, who was on the phone for five hours on Thursday.

For more information, Groder can be reached at 929-8806.

(Pythian Sisters 3) – Joann Groder and her granddaughter, Kendra Gorham, check the refrigerator last week, as the Pythian Sisters of Narragansett Temple #111 plan a free Thanksgiving dinner in Buxton.(Pythian Sisters 5 or 6) – Planning a second annual free Thanksgiving Day dinner in Buxton are, left to right, Natalie Marshall and her mother, Geneann Mayo; Sara Gorham; Ellen Emery; Joann Groder; Kendra Gorham; and Carolyn Moore.