ESCANABA – More than 200 people gathered for the 33rd annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner in Escanaba Thursday. Along with meals delivered to homes and prepared for pick-up, about 750 turkey dinners were served for the community event.

“This meal is for anyone who is alone,” said Maggie Tall, one of the organizers of the event. “This is a family sit down meal. Everybody is seated. We bring the tables just as mom did at home.”

People attend for various reasons. No one is turned away. Naomi Fletcher has attended the event for five years with her husband and son.

“I think it’s wonderful for the entire community to be able to come out and do this,” Fletcher said. “We get to met new people here and just have some fun.”

John Economopoulos has volunteered to serve the meal for three years with his daughters. They now consider it a Thanksgiving tradition.

“It may sound a bit cliche but Thanksgiving is more than just bringing family together. This is our community. This is one of the reasons we live here,” Economopoulos said.