MEL TOADVINE Volunteers serve up turkey dinner.

Nearly 600 free meals were served at the Rotary Club of Lehigh’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner at the church hall at St. Raphael’s Church last Thursday.

Rotarians cooked 28 big turkeys and all the trimmings plus a large ham for the big dinner.

“It was one of the largest number of people that came to our dinner on Thanksgiving Day. To be exact, we had 590 people who ate with us. That’s about what it was in 2013 on Thanksgiving Day,” said Mike Buff, the Rotarian who heads up the free meal project.

“We got near the end and didn’t have much turkey left but we had ham that we had prepared.”

Buff said Rotarians always prepare for a large crowd and hope they don’t run out of food.

MEL TOADVINE Tables were filled with dinners.

“We had a great turnout of people and we had a lot of volunteers, too, who helped us on the line, scooping up the food as visitors passed by.

Each year the Rotary Club of Lehigh Acres cooks a free Thanksgiving Day dinner and then does it all over again and cooks a Christmas Day dinner and as always, everyone in Lehigh is invited to attend. Those who wish to contribute may, but the dinner is free, Buff said.

The dining hall was set to open at 11 a.m., but Buff said the line outside was getting so long they opened up earlier and started serving the turkey and all the trimmings.

The dinner lasted to around 2 p.m.

It has become a tradition for a lot of people to attend the dinner. Families attend as do church members from Mass at the adjoining church. Many people who live alone come as do others who have no family in Lehigh.

MEL TOADVINE Nancy Eng enjoys her dinner.

Nancy Eng said she has lived in Lehigh for 26 years and has been attending the dinners for four years.

“They’re very nice. They really treat you good here,” she said.

Some volunteers were guiding people once they entered the church hall to the serving line while other volunteers were serving tea, coffee and water to diners. Many young people were also serving desserts to those who had finished their meal.

John Gilbert said this was his second year of coming for the Community Dinner and that the food was nothing but “excellent.”

Isaac Telusma, a junior at Riverdale High School was one of the young volunteers. He said it was his first time and thought everyone was very friendly.

MEL TOADVINE Serving desserts are Cresencia Dolterty and Jeremy Boon. Top left,

Dale Newcome of Lehigh has been coming to the dinner for four years.

“I live alone and am from York, Pa., with no relatives down here. So it’s a great place to be on Thanksgiving Day,” he said. “I came down here because I was tired of the cold and snow up north.”

While people ate, desserts were being passed around. Two volunteers with several servings were Cresencia Dolterty and Jeremy Boon. Both said they enjoyed serving the big crowds.

The Rotary Club of Lehigh is some two dozen strong in membership, but with an invitation to volunteers, there’s always enough people there to help do almost anything and clean up the pots and pans in the end.

Rotarians Chuck Hodde and Inke Baker were busy at work at the beginning preparing a large bowl of mashed potatoes.

The weather was ideal and Rotarian Mike Buff said he thought everyone who came had a great time.

“I know members of Rotary enjoy doing this each year. Now we’re getting ready for Christmas; that’s not that far off. We cook it all and we invite everyone in the community to come and eat with us again. We want our friends and neighbors to enjoy themselves and have a good time.”