NEWBURY — Good food, warm friends and twinkling music were in amply supply Wednesday as Thanksgiving came a couple of weeks early for dozens of seniors who visited PITA Hall.
The Newbury Council on Aging hosted a holiday dinner for the folks they serve that began at noon. The room was buzzing with lively conversation and music courtesy of Sergei Novikov as everyone mingled while waiting for the main attraction, the Thanksgiving meal.
Catering came courtesy of Starboard Galley, a Newburyport-based restaurant, with folks getting classic plates full of Thanksgiving staples such as turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash and green beans. Volunteers and COA staff helped to bring plates out to tables as they became ready.
Newbury COA Director Cindy Currier said this is their third time hosting Thanksgiving dinner.
“It’s our biggest event of the whole year, even more than the holiday party,” Currier said.
She said this latest gathering was the largest they have had so far, with nearly 70 in attendance.
“Good food, socialization, good friends, it’s just a nice time to gather and get together. For some of our folks, this is their Thanksgiving dinner. For others, this is just yet one more way to kind of celebrate the season,” Currier said.
She said the socialization portion of these offerings has been especially important coming out of the pandemic.
“Isolation is a real problem specifically for this population. So being able to gather, get together, interact with different people, and have something really good to eat is really meaningful,” Currier said.
Local senior Robert Haynes said he has enjoyed coming to the Thanksgiving gatherings over the last few years.
“I think it’s fantastic. They do an excellent job at the Council on Aging,” Haynes said.
He attends each year with his wife, Sheila Haynes, and his service dog, a black lab named Jagger.
“It’s a wonderful event and gets people together and the council does a wonderful job making people happy,” Sheila Haynes said.
Robert Haynes laughed as he shared how excited Jagger gets seeing so many humans.
“He loves it. He’s good. He’s a people person, he loves people. So this is fantastic. They treat him very well,” Robert Haynes said.
He said Jagger always leaves with a doggy bag full of goodies.
Beverly Cahoon has also been attending these gatherings for the last few years and was surrounded by her friends as they joked around at their table. She explained why she looks forward to the event each year.
“Just seeing everybody. It’s nice to see people you don’t see very often,” Cahoon said.
She praised the community for making events such as the Thanksgiving dinner possible.
“It’s nice that they offer this,” Cahoon said.
Currier thanked her staff for getting everything set up and catered as well as a number of volunteers.
“We can’t do it without the volunteers,” Currier said.