Nov. 8, 2023 • Volume 12, Issue 11 • Complimentary • HiltonHeadSun.com
PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID BLUFFTON, SC PERMIT NO. 135 POSTAL CUSTOMER
Family-Style Thanksgiving Brings Community Together In Gratitude And For Great Causes By Gwyneth J. Saunders CONTRIBUTOR
Beginning about mid-October every year, the same question begins popping up in conversations and on social media: Who is open Thanksgiving Day? The query stems from the scheduled arrival of family guests, the desire not to cook a traditional meal for just two people or the wish not to be alone on the holiday. While several area businesses will prepare a ready-to-cook or reheat meal, and numerous restaurants will be open, two very special groups will host free feasts with the aim of gathering people together as a community. Family-oriented feasts in Bluffton and Hilton Head are both free and will include traditional dishes, with some variations: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry, collard greens and other sides, and delicious pies. Fellowship and community are the reasons behind the 25-year tradition of annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Hudson’s Seafood Restaurant on the Docks. According to co-founder Gloria LaCoe, the partnership with the popular restaurant
and the 24-year partnership with St. Andrew by-the-Sea United Methodist Church had a similar reason for beginning.
In 1998, an article in a local newspaper the day after Thanksgiving said lonely locals had no place to go for the holiday meal.
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PHOTOS COURTESY TR MEDIA WORLD
Volunteers serve the meals prepared by Hudson’s Seafood Restaurant on the Docks staff during the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
“My husband, Allan, and I saw that, and so did Brian Carmines, owner of Hudson’s. Betsy Doughtie, who wrote the article and was executive director at Deep Well at the time, called us all together in a meeting and said, ‘What can we do?’” said LaCoe. “Back then there were no restaurants open. If families are going to get together, they are going to get together for Christmas holidays versus the one day of Thanksgiving.” Carmines offered his restaurant, which was closed on Thanksgiving, and all the committee needed to do was try to get financial support. They began planning just after Christmas and by the next Thanksgiving, they had everything ready, including 300 volunteers with a host and hostess designated for each table in the stead of grandparents. “We were just hoping on Thanksgiving morning when we opened the restaurant, there would be a line of people outside ready to come in. We didn’t take reservations. We said, just come,” she said. “Then we opened the doors, and there were about 400 people in line. We were very happy.” The committee members saw that the meal
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